Federal Health Minister Sussan Ley buys Gold Coast flat on taxpayer-funded trip

EXCLUSIVE: FEDERAL Health Minister Sussan Ley charged taxpayers thousands of dollars for a trip with her husband, during which she bought a $795,000 Gold Coast investment property.

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FEDERAL Health Minister Sussan Ley charged taxpayers thousands of dollars for a trip to Queensland with her husband during which she bought a $795,000 Gold Coast investment property.

Government documents reveal in May 2015, after announcing at Brisbane’s Wesley Hospital $1.3 billion in funding to list new medicines and vaccines, Ms Ley went to the affluent suburb of Main Beach.

She billed taxpayers $370 on her travel allowance to stay the night on the Gold Coast with her partner, on the same day she bought the ocean-view apartment.

Health Minister Sussan Ley billed taxpayers to stay the night on the Gold Coast on the same day she bought the ocean-view apartment.

Ms Ley confirmed to the Herald Sun the property was bought during the trip, which she declared was for “official business”.

She said the apartment purchase “was not planned nor anticipated”.

“All travel undertaken was in accordance with the rules,” a spokeswoman for Ms Ley said.

Ms Ley’s office would not confirm whether the investment property had been negatively geared.

Her office also refused to say whether $268.30 for chauffeur services, which was also charged to taxpayers, had been used by the couple to travel the 80km to Main Beach.

Ms Ley’s spokeswoman said the couple had travelled to the Gold Coast because the minister had “stakeholders to meet with”.

Ms Ley’s office would not provide the Herald Sun with a list of these people.

The Main Beach tower block where Sussan Ley bought an apartment. Picture: Nigel Hallett

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Ms Ley’s spokeswoman said the minister’s partner had been invited to accompany her to a function in Sydney the ­previous evening.

“He then travelled with the minister to Queensland under family travel arrangements.

“The EMB (Entitlements Management Branch) was consulted at the time to confirm Ms Ley’s partner’s travel was within the rules,” she said.

One source told the Herald Sun that Ms Ley’s partner negotiated the sale.

In total, the couple claimed a sum of $3949 in flights for the 48-hour trip.

A code of conduct states ministers must not use their ­office for private purposes and “due economy is to be observed at all times”.

The Herald Sun recently revealed Ms Ley spent more than $12,000 chartering a private jet to fly to the Gold Coast for a meeting last year.

It is less than a week since the Federal Government moved to restrict access to the aged pension for 300,000 older Australians.

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