Treat me like other MPs, says Peter Slipper

PETER Slipper has vented frustration over his trial for allegedly misusing taxi vouchers saying he is being treated differently from his fellow MPs.

FORMER speaker Peter Slipper has vented frustration over his seven-day trial for allegedly misusing taxi vouchers to visit Canberra wineries, saying he is being treated differently from his fellow MPs.

Mr Slipper was charged yesterday at the Magistrates Court in Canberra with three counts of dishonestly causing a "risk of loss" to the commonwealth in 2010.

He pleaded not guilty and said he would fight to uphold his innocence.

The case is scheduled for December and will include 31 civilian witnesses and seven Australian Federal Police witnesses.

Outside the court, Mr Slipper said the key issue was whether the cost of the trips was within or outside his parliamentary entitlements.

"Not-guilty pleas have been entered. I strongly maintain my innocence and this matter will be vigorously defended," Mr Slipper said.

"This matter, though, should be looked at in perspective. What we're talking about is whether a sum of $964 expended was within or outside entitlement.

"And that's a matter which is usually handled administratively between the member and the Department of Finance.

"Instead, this matter has been set down for a seven-day trial. I regret that I have not been given the equivalence of treatment given to other members and senators."

On January 20, 2010, Mr Slipper is alleged to have used his Cabcharge card to pay for a hire car to pick him up from Parliament House and take him across the ACT border to a handful of wineries, including the award-winning Clonakilla Wines, Shaw Estate and the fashionable Capital country smoking-house and restaurant Poachers Pantry.

He allegedly ran up a bill of $337.

In April that year, Mr Slipper is alleged to have used his Cabcharge card to return to Clonakilla and Poachers Pantry, as well as visiting nearby wineries Jeir Creek and Doonkunna, ringing up a $375 bill.

In June 2010, Mr Slipper is alleged to have again visited Poachers Pantry and returned to Canberra via Shaw Estate Vineyard. He is then alleged to have travelled to Canberra airport with the same hire car driver.

Mr Slipper also took a parting shot at Tony Abbott, saying that unlike the Opposition Leader, he was paying for his own legal advice.

McCullough Robertson is providing Mr Abbott with free legal advice to defend a lawsuit against him by One Nation co-founder David Ettridge.