Travel rort row: Labor accused Gold Coast LNP MPs of jet-setting on taxpayer expense

Labor is accusing senior Gold Coast LNP MPS of being jet-setters on the taxpayer’s expense after trawling through the latest travel claims tabled to State Parliament.

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LABOR is accusing senior Gold Coast LNP MPS of being jet-setters on the taxpayer’s expense after trawling through the latest travel claims tabled to State Parliament.

Transport Minister Mark Bailey has targeted Surfers Paradise MP John-Paul Langbroek and Broadwater MP David Crisafulli for charging for flights with their wives on trips to sporting events and conferences in Sydney and Melbourne.

MP John-Paul Langbroek speaks during Question Time in Parliament House in Brisbane.(AAP Image/Jono Searle)

The LNP has responded by pointing to Labor’s own record on travel spending, furious about the “grubby politics” surfacing before the October 31 poll.

Mr Bailey told the Bulletin: “The LNP love the jet-set life, even when it’s clear they’re taking taxpayers for a ride.

“We’ve seen the LNP take their families on a taxpayer-funded, $45,000 trip to sip wine at the Margaret River.

“Then there was the $23,000 bill the LNP infamously put on the public tab for a cocktail party at Luna Park in Sydney.

“John-Paul Langbroek’s built an impressive gallery of taxpayer-funded selfies, posing at sporting events around Australia over the past couple of years.

“That’s on top of multiple public apologies from Mr Langbroek for lewd gestures in Parliament, paying for hotel rooms in his own electorate and an inappropriate post on Instagram about a woman’s breasts.”

Transport Minister Mark Bailey — checking Labor’s travel expenses. Picture: NCA NewsWire / Dan Peled.

Labor alleges Mr Langbroek in the past two years has spent more than $17,000 on travel attending NRL grand finals, races in Bowen and “watching Serena Williams twice at the Australian Open”.

Mr Langbroek told the Bulletin: “All three years’ travel was for events or conferences attended in my role as an MP and as Shadow Minister for Sport and Racing.

“All travel was approved by the Parliamentary Travel Service and in line with the guidelines issued by the Clerk of the Parliament.

“Labor’s Sports Minister Mick De Brenni spent $165,000 on domestic travel over the same period, and somehow still found time to rort the sports grant allocation system to the tune of almost $20 million.”

Mr Bailey also took aim at Mr Crisafulli after Labor staffers checked his flight expenses for a southern trip.

“Now, we learn David Crisafulli’s been in on spending up big too, billing taxpayers for a three-day trip to Melbourne to a conference that included a celebrated climate change sceptic and Alan Jones among its list of guest speakers,” Mr Bailey said.

LNP Shadow Tourism Minister David Crisafulli. Picture: Alix Sweeney

“It’s a revealing choice for the LNP’s Shadow Environment Minister. These LNP MPs will say it’s within Parliamentary guidelines but does it pass the pub test.

“What are the benefits to taxpayers of these interstate jaunts around the country with family in tow spending thousands of taxpayer dollars for each trip?

“Deb Frecklington has no control of her Gold Coast MPs because she is a weak leader with no authority over her undisciplined LNP team.”

Mr Crisafulli told the Bulletin: “The conference was attended by some of the most respected constitutional experts in the country including former Labor Premier John Brumby. Mark Bailey’s comments are offensive to the hundreds of influential thought leaders who don’t align with the Jackie Trad tribal socialism brand the Transport Minister revels in.

“I am determined to lure the event to the Gold Coast post COVID and have already begun discussions to make this happen.”

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