plibersek takes family on tax funded holiday

One of the dodgy expense claims that Fairfax somehow overlooked in trying to nail Coalition MPs as serial rorters:

DEPUTY Labor leader Tanya Plibersek charged taxpayers to take her family to holiday destination Lord Howe Island, where she met constituents.

The Sydney MP’s electorate covers the territory 700km off the coast of NSW and she spent four days on the island, population 350, in April 2011.

Entitlements documents show three members of Ms Plibersek’s family travelled with her, at a cost of almost $3500 in flights.
The family flew to the island on April 24 and returned to Sydney on April 28.

Of course, there’s an excuse for the Plibersek family going en familie:

“Tanya visited because she represents the residents of Lord Howe Island in the parliament, as it is part of the federal electorate of Sydney,’’ her spokesman said.

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