No. Most staffers are privately employed by the MP using their allowance, although a few might be on secondment from the Public Service.
Anyhow it was arranged by the Department of the Prime Minister and Cabinet
Quote news: A $3000-a-week house rented in Canberra last year for the Prime Minister has been quietly handed back to the landlord, without Tony Abbott having set foot inside.
But the public servants who splashed out on the luxury home will not say how much taxpayers' money they paid to back out of the lease.
The Department of the Prime Minister and Cabinet was left red-faced in November after it was revealed it rented the home in Forrest for $156,000 in the lead-up to the September 7 election.
It was meant to be the PM's base while The Lodge was refurbished.
After his election, Mr Abbott said he had no intention of staying in the house and instead moved into the nearby Australian Federal Police College.
