Stuart Robert to repay taxpayer funds claimed for goldmine trip

Sacked Turnbull minister Stuart Robert will repay $1600 he spent on a trip to a goldmine he had purchased shares for.

Stuart Robert said although the trip to Evolution Mining’s $200 million Mt Carlton mine was “official shadow ministerial business”, he would repay the money he had claimed.

Former federal minister Stuart Robert will repay more than $1600 of taxpayers’ money he spent on a flight to a north Queensland goldmine in which he had recently purchased shares for himself and his family.

Responding to the revelations in The Australian, Mr Robert said although the trip to Evolution Mining’s $200 million Mt Carlton mine was “official shadow ministerial business”, he would repay the money he had claimed.

“To ensure there can be no conflict I wish to voluntarily repay the costs in question in addition to any such penalty the Department may wish to apply,” he said in a statement.

“I felt it was important to have the Federal Opposition represented at such an event.”

Mr Robert defended accusations of a conflict of interest, as he owned a “minor” number of Evolution Mining shares.

“I held a very minor shareholding that I had previously declared to the Parliament,” he said.

Department of Finance documents show that Mr Robert claimed $1091 for return flights from Brisbane to Townsville on April 10, 2013, as well as $205 for Comcar limousine charges and a further $376 for a travel allowance in Brisbane prior to the flight north.

Mr Robert had close links to one of Evolution Mining’s then directors, Paul Marks, who had more than six million shares in the company and funnelled large donations to the Liberal and National parties. The former Human Services Minister was sacked from the Turnbull ministry over a trip to China in 2014 after it was revealed he had a financial interested in another company, Nimrod Resources, whose chairman was Mr Marks.

Shadow attorney-general Mark Dreyfus has requested the Australian Federal Police investigate whether Mr Robert acted criminally during the China trip.

At the time of the Queensland trip, Mr Robert was opposition spokesman for defence, science technology and personnel — no official role related to the mine, which was located 1600km north of his Gold Coast electorate.