Bridget McKenzie: New Zealand enchants another National

New deputy Nationals leader is following in the footsteps of Julie Bishop, living it up with her Kiwi MP partner.

Nationals deputy leader Bridget McKenzie at the Canberra International Clay Target Club. Picture: Alex Ellinghausen

New deputy Nationals leader Bridget McKenzie has made formal visits to New Zealand parliament, where her Kiwi MP partner David Bennett works, with the pair traversing the Tasman attending racing and community events.

The Victorian senator, who ­replaced Fiona Nash as the ­Nationals deputy on Thursday, has juggled the cross-Tasman long-distance relationship with Mr Bennett, a former minister, since the pair became romantically ­involved in 2015.

The MPs, who met at a parliamentary sports weekend in Auckland, travel between Australia and New Zealand, appearing together at high-profile functions, including Flemington’s Spring Racing Carnival and a visit to the Pakenham Racing Club, where they posed with New Zealand Thoroughbred Racing chief executive Bernard Saundry.

Senator McKenzie — an avid athlete and sports fan — regularly accepts free tickets to events, following in the footsteps of deputy Liberal leader Julie Bishop, who has been criticised for billing taxpayers for interstate travel to ­attend AFL grand finals, polo functions and the Spring Racing Carnival. Senator McKenzie has attended the past two AFL grand finals, and accepted invites to consecutive Derby Day and Melbourne Cup racedays. She has also claimed tickets to the Australian Open, T20 cricket matches, various AFL games, and the semi-final and final of the ANZ Championship Netball in Melbourne.

The 47-year-old, who was criticised last year for living in the bayside Melbourne suburb of Elwood despite her office being in Bendigo, was formally welcomed to New Zealand parliament on two visits in her capacity with the Australian parliament netball team.

Senator McKenzie, the gun-toting chair of the Parliamentary Friends of Shooting group, is ­expected to be elevated to Malcolm Turnbull’s cabinet as early as next weekend, replacing Ms Nash in the ministry.

Mr Bennett, who hosted meetings with Senator McKenzie’s ­Coalition colleagues Dean Smith and Andrew Southcott during a parliamentary delegation to New Zealand, regularly visits Australia on official and private trips. Mr Bennett told The New Zealand Herald they met on a netball court, during a trip to New Zealand by Australian politicians for a sporting exchange. “She can’t remember that we actually played against each other ... (I remember), she was the captain of her netball team, she was very competitive,” he said last year.

A spokesman for Senator McKenzie told The Weekend Australian that her trips to New Zealand were not taxpayer-funded. During Senator McKenzie’s visits to New Zealand in December 2015 and March this year, she was acknowledged as an Australian senator by the New Zealand parliament.

“The two trips were as part of a parliamentary netball visit along with several other politicians, including Labor,” he said. “Each person paid their own way, there was no cost to the taxpayer. It was not abnormal for any parliament to recognise politicians from other jurisdictions visiting their chambers.”

Senator McKenzie — who this week told The Weekend Australian that she had moved back to Ballarat — has also confirmed Mr Bennett had attended two race days at Flemington as “her partner”.

According to Senator McKenzie’s register of interest, she has also accepted sponsored travel and accommodation, claiming trips to Japan, the United Arab Emirates and Israel. In 2015, she claimed “outdoor activities, accommodation and meals” in New Zealand.

Coalition sources said she had “churned through about 30 staff” in recent years. Her spokesman said she initially employed casual staffers, which was responsible for the high turnover in her office. The spokesman said she had low turnover since she restructured her office and employed permanent staffers in 2015.

Senator McKenzie is close to Deputy Prime Minister Barnaby Joyce, forming a friendship with the New England MP predating his entry into the Senate in 2005. In October, Mr Joyce was ruled ineligible to sit in parliament by the High Court after it was revealed he was a dual New Zealand citizen.

A senior Labor source yesterday quipped: “What is it with the Nats and New Zealand?”