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When Tanya Plibersek is asked about travel claims, two roads diverge in the wood

Labor deputy leader Tanya Plibersek’s press conference yesterday:

Journalist: On (Labor MP) Madeleine King, should taxpayers be paying for flights for her and other MPs to attend sporting events and then for her to schedule some meetings around?

Plibersek: It’s up to all MPs to properly account for their travel. I’ve seen the story you’re referring to and (it) says that all of the travel was within entitlements. I think it’s up to each MP to make sure that every time they are travelling on taxpayers’ expense, they are doing a proper amount of work to justify that travel and that they are able to clearly account for the travel being within entitlements.

Plibersek on Radio National Breakfast, August 31, 2016:

Fran Kelly: I better ask you about the revelation that a Chinese donor paid the travel entitlements of one of your colleagues, Sam Dastyari. The payment was disclosed to parliament, but in your view should MPs be asking outside interests — Chinese or otherwise — to cover their expenses? …

Plibersek: It’s proper Sam disclosed this in the proper way and I think that the fact that he’s agreed to …

Kelly: Is it appropriate?

Plibersek: Well I think the fact that he has agreed to pay the equivalent amount to a charity shows that he doesn’t believe it’s appropriate, he believes that he made an error of judgment.

Spot the difference. ABC News­radio, July 29, 2015:

Plibersek: What you’ve got with these (Bronwyn Bishop) travel rort allegations is something that brings the dignity of the Speaker into question …

Steve Chase: Why isn’t the ALP moving to improve the expenses system rather than throwing grenades? Because the public knows both sides make claims, get overpaid or wrongly paid, pay money back, surely the objective should be to make sure problems don’t arise in the future, because if you get rid of Bronwyn Bishop, what’s to say another Labor MP or a Liberal will come up with the same issue in six weeks?

Plibersek: If the government wants to propose tightening up, we are very happy to co-operate. What I would say is: Bronwyn Bishop has broken the rules.

Jane Caro on Twitter yesterday:

While I congratulate Gladys Berejiklian on her achievement, I voted against her (she is my local member). Just a heads up, feminism does not require I agree with every woman on the planet. I would never vote for Pauline Hanson or congratulate her, for example.

Imre Salusinszky responding on Twitter:

Lucky she gave us that heads up because I’d always assumed men had to vote for men and women had to vote for women.

Caro on Saturday morning:

I just put Latham and Leyjonholm (sic) last. You can too. It’s very satisfying.

Caro on Saturday after Mark Latham’s election had been confirmed:

Ashamed to be a New South Welsh woman. Apologies to the rest of Australia.

Caro earlier in the evening:

This is boring and depressing. #NSWVotes2019

Always something to look forward to. Latham at the Melbourne Writers Festival, August 22, 2015:

This is how I talk in the western suburbs of Sydney in the pub, with my mates at sporting events. And if you don’t like it you can f..k off. What’s wrong with a bit of unfiltered conversation and the word f..k and c..t?

Original URL: https://www.theaustralian.com.au/opinion/cutandpaste/when-tanya-plibersek-is-asked-about-travel-claims-two-roads-diverge-in-the-wood/news-story/a2c7753db2ba948bb642509942ef7411