PM returns to drama as Julie Bishop is accused of $30k jet flight, war of words breaks out with Tony Abbott

AS IF her public spat with Tony Abbott weren’t enough, Julie Bishop is now in the spotlight over an expensive VIP flight.

MALCOLM Turnbull returns home from trying to solve the world’s problems to drama within his own party.

This morning, the Labor Opposition is attempting to have Mr Turnbull’s Special Minister of State Mal Brough censured in Parliament amid allegations he lied over the long-running Peter Slipper affair following the release of an incendiary 60 Minutes TV transcript.

Mr Turnbull has been accused of “atrocious judgement”.

Separately, tensions have flared publicly between the Prime Minister’s deputy Julie Bishop and his predecessor Tony Abbott over the latter’s September dumping, as well as serious questions over a taxpayer-funded RAAF jet flight that put’s Bronwyn Bishop’s helicopter ride in the shade.

The Foreign Minister is accused of ordering an empty RAAF Challenger jet to fly from Canberra to Perth to pick up her and her boyfriend from a charity dinner on October 18, the Daily Telegraph reports.

Ms Bishop and her partner David Panton were reportedly the only two passengers on the flight, costing $30,000 for the red-eye journey.

Ms Bishop had reportedly been in her home state of WA to represent Mr Turnbull as the star attraction at a charity telethon, but needed to fly back to Canberra in time for early meetings the following morning.

Foreign Affairs Minister Julie Bishop has become embroiled ina public spat with her former boss.

The bill dwarfs the $5000 helicopter jaunt that cost Bronwyn Bishop the Speaker’s job under Tony Abbott and spawned a new genre of internet memes.

Bronwyn Bishop, however, was attending a private Liberal party fundraiser, not representing the Prime Minister.

Meanwhile, Ms Bishop has been trading blows with Mr Abbott, who has publicly attacked Ms Bishop and accused some Liberal colleagues of “white-anting” him before dumping him as PM.

The tensions centre on a claim by Ms Bishop that she warned him about a phone call ahead of September’s leadership coup. Mr Abbott told Fairfax his former deputy’s claim was “false”.

The Foreign Minister told Channel Nine on Tuesday that she “of course” told her then boss of the call by Malcolm Turnbull, who was making plans for a post-Abbott government back in February.

“The claim that Julie Bishop made on Channel Nine that she told me about the conversation between Malcolm Turnbull and Scott Morrison that she witnessed is false,” he told Fairfax Media.

Last night a steely eyed Ms Bishop fired back, telling Channel Ten’s The Project she and Mr Abbott clearly had “different recollections” of the events leading up to his dumping.

“Well there are obviously different recollections across a whole range of issues,” Ms Bishop told host Waleed Aly in an uncomfortable exchange.

“People bring their different perspectives and different recollections ... and I have nothing further to add,” she said.

Mr Turnbull touched down in Canberra this morning after a lengthy jaunt overseas, dealing with issues ranging from Islamic State terrorism to climate change.

He is yet to comment.

Meanwhile Labor has accused Mr Brough of “slithering and sliding” around his role in the Ashby-Slipper affair.

“At the very least he must stand aside,” shadow attorney-general Mark Dreyfus told ABC radio on Wednesday.

The demand came as 60 Minutes debunked the minister’s claim in Parliament on Tuesday that a television interview, in which he admitted to asking James Ashby to obtain copies of ex-Speaker Peter Slipper’s diary, was edited.

Later in parliament Labor sought to censure Mr Brough over his actions and Mr Turnbull over his “atrocious judgment”.

The government used its numbers to gag any debate.

— Read the full story at theDaily Telegraph.

PM Malcolm Turnbull returns home from Paris today. Picture: Ella Pellegrini

Originally published as PM returns to drama as Julie Bishop is accused of $30k jet flight, war of words breaks out with Tony Abbott