Glam wedding and parties with Sarina Russo among Sussan Ley’s claims

EMBATTLED Health Minister Sussan Ley billed taxpayers for a flight from the Gold Coast back to Canberra after attending a glamorous family wedding of employment millionaire Sarina Russo.

BIG DAY: Recruitment millionaire and political donor Sarina Russo with Angelique Boyce (above) on her wedding day in 2015. The wedding was attended by Ms Ley.

EMBATTLED Health Minister Sussan Ley billed taxpayers for a flight from the Gold Coast back to Canberra after attending a glamorous family wedding of employment millionaire Sarina Russo.

Ms Ley yesterday stood aside while two investigations are held into her expenses, sparked after she purchased a luxury $795,000 apartment while claiming expenses for ministerial business on the Gold Coast.

In a bizarre twist, mother of the bride, Brisbane socialite Maureen Boyce, was found murdered at her apartment months after her daughter’s wedding.

In a sign of the pair’s close relationship, Ms Russo also has been revealed as the “prominent Queensland businesswoman” Ms Ley said she had meetings with on New Year’s Eve 2013 and 2014.

In a picture from the wedding posted on her Instagram account, Ms Russo says Ms Ley is “glamorous, smart and a great Minister”.

The post-wedding flight is one of several claims Ms Ley has agreed to pay back after questions over whether they were for personal reasons or fell outside travel guidelines.

MPs can claim travel to Canberra for the sitting of parliament, but only from home.

Health minister Sussan Ley billed taxpayers to attend a glamorous wedding at the invitation of Queensland employment millionaire Sarina Russo.

A spokesman for Ms Ley confirmed she had attended the wedding but made it clear she did not bill taxpayers for flights to the wedding or accommodation on the Coast.

He said the flight from Coolangatta to Canberra was only taken so she could attend parliament and was actually $200 cheaper than a flight from her hometown of Albury.

At her press conference yesterday, Ms Ley did not refer to the wedding but argued the June 1 flight in question was a cheaper alternative.

The Courier-Mail understands Ms Russo spent New Year’s Eve 2014 at Vanitas restaurant, also at Versace. Ms Ley yesterday said the meetings were to discuss “education and training”.

“So what I’m saying is they were business conversations, and they were important conversations to the future of our Government’s agenda,” Ms Ley said.

Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull yesterday announced Senator Arthur Sinodinos would fill in as Acting Health and Sports Minister.

He has asked the Secretary of the Department of Prime Minister & Cabinet, Martin Parkinson, to investigate Ms Ley’s travel claims. The Department of Finance is also examining her travel records.

Ms Ley said she was confident the investigations would show she had not broken any rules but admitted some claims may not pass the “pub test”.

“It’s not an admission that I’ve broken the rules, and I’m very confident that the investigations will demonstrate that no rules were broken whatsoever,” she said.

Since 2013, Ms Russo’s recruitment company Sarina Russo Job Access has been awarded contracts worth more than $45 million by the Coalition Government. She regularly meets ministers and since 2000 has given the Coalition more than $100,000 and Labor about $50,000.

Ms Russo is currently on holidays in New York but yesterday backed Ms Ley and said every time they have met it has “related to her portfolio or the government at hand”.