Shorten ally chucks a parliamentary sickie to take a trip to Israel

Michael Danby told his Labor colleagues he was too sick to be in parliament, and then took off on a trip to Israel.

Michael Danby, centre, at the conference in Israel last year.

Federal Labor MP Michael Danby took a trip to Israel and pursued some of his favourite causes after allegedly telling his party back home that he was too ill to attend a sitting week of parliament.

Mr Danby, the member for Melbourne Ports who has been a close ally of Bill Shorten, made the trip in September last year during a two-week absence.

He had supplied a medical certificate that stated he was unfit for parliamentary duties.

The second week of Mr Danby’s absence coincided with a sitting week of parliament. During that time he was in Herz­liya, north of Tel Aviv, to attend a counter-terrorism conference.

A colleague from the conference tweeted a photo of Mr Danby with the comment: “Delighted to see @Michael DanbyMP at the @ICT-org (World) Summit. Canada & Australia working in common cause.”

Senior Labor sources have confirmed Mr Danby’s journey to the other side of the world while parliament was in session was not sanctioned by the party leadership, and not known in advance. His leave was not related to representing Australia.

The Labor MP is already under scrutiny over allegations he used his taxpayer-funded parliamentary allowance to pay for advertisements in Australian Jewish News, attacking a journalist over her Israeli-Palestinian coverage as the ABC’s Jerusalem correspondent. Mr Danby insists there was no misuse of his allowance, but Mr Shorten has made it clear he is “deeply unimpressed”.

Party sources say Mr Danby could battle to win ALP endorsement at the next election.

A few days after attending the summit event at Herzliya’s Sharon Hotel, Mr Danby spoke at a media conference at the Jerusalem Press Club.

The Jerusalem Post reported at the time that he had been invited by the Pro-Israel group, NGO Monitor, to Jerusalem to address “the recent World Vision scandal” which allegedly involved millions of dollars in aid money meant for Gaza that had been siphoned off to militant Palestinian group Hamas.

“If Australian money was spent on building (Hamas terror) tunnels, that is beyond the pale,” Mr Danby was reported as saying.

Although some Labor MPs believed Mr Danby was at home in Melbourne and unwell at the time of his international trip, others thought he was on compassionate leave, spending time with his former wife, who had been seriously ill.

When concerned senior colleagues called Mr Danby’s mobile phone from Canberra during the parliamentary week to ask after his health, they were puzzled to hear “international pips”, they said, which suggested Mr Danby was overseas.

After further calls, they learned Mr Danby was in Israel and intended to speak out about World Vision at the Jerusalem Press Club. They attempted to persuade him not to hold the media conference, but failed.

Senior Labor MPs have wondered how his activities could be described as parliamentary business when the House of Representatives was in session and he would normally be required to attend, if able.

Questions have also been raised about whether Mr Danby’s stand against World Vision, while consistent with the Israeli government’s position, was in line with ALP policy.

World Vision officials deny aid funds were wrongly diverted to Hamas. The manager of aid operations for Gaza has been in Israeli custody for 15 months pending a possible prosecution, with World Vision trying to secure his release.

The Australian asked Mr Danby to comment on how he came to be abroad when he was assumed to be on sick leave during a parliamentary week.

Mr Danby was also asked if any of his travel and accommodation costs in September last year were paid by sponsors, and if so, who paid.

He was asked for comment on why a number of senior Labor colleagues were not aware of his overseas travel when parliament was sitting — until finding out during his absence.

In response, Mr Danby told The Australian last night: “I received medical advice to take a complete break and get away. I took that advice.

“Unauthorised release of private medical information is ethically wrong. None of us want our private health details released, especially when they’re used to distort circumstances.

“No taxpayer dollars were involved in the trip.”

Mr Danby’s globetrotting in September last year was spread over three weeks, starting in Israel and including Geneva, where he spoke at a UN-linked NGO Monitor event on September 26.

The absence from parliamentary duties came shortly after last year’s federal election when Mr Shorten wanted all MPs on deck to bolster Labor’s position against the Turnbull government’s slim majority.

In the week of Mr Danby’s Israel absence — when parliament was sitting — Mr Shorten was briefly away when he travelled to Montreal to visit new Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau.

Mr Shorten’s trip was sanctioned in advance by his party, and the parliament. He was also “paired” under an accepted practice that keeps the balance of government and opposition numbers in cases of illness or other special absences. Another Labor MP, Jason Clare, was given advance leave from parliament after his wife had given birth.