West Australian MP Don Randall should be lawyering up and preparing for a full investigation by the Australian Federal Police after revelations of his taxpayer-funded cross-continental trip to Cairns last year, apparently to take possession of an investment property.
That is, if you take the experience of former MP Peter Slipper as the standard, rather than the cosy arrangement that all other federal politicians have enjoyed for more than a decade. The reason Slipper is before the courts is that a former staff member took the matter straight to the federal police last year and circumvented Finance. Slipper alleges James Ashby was part of a conspiracy by Liberal Party operatives seeking to discredit him after he left the party.
Slipper's alleged rorting of Cabcharge expenses for three separate tours of wineries amounted to just $1194, less than a quarter of the cost of the trip by Randall and a family member (believed to be his wife) to Cairns.
But the key word when it comes to any criminal investigation leading to court proceedings is ''dishonesty''. Slipper is facing three charges because he allegedly urged his drivers to break up the journeys into separate Cabcharge dockets to avoid any adverse scrutiny from Finance, which monitors and pays entitlements.
Yet it appears Randall, too, has been dishonest. He claimed the $5259 cost of his return flight from Perth to Cairns should be drawn from the public purse because he was on ''electorate business''.
The evidence suggests his main, if not only, order of business on the rapid turnaround trip was to secure the investment property. Randall may have a legitimate explanation for his claims for the trips but he has failed to provide one for more than 24 hours since Fairfax Media's Jonathan Swan and Lisa Visentin first raised the matter with his office.
Randall's jaunts highlight - once again - the desperate need for reform of the entitlements system, which is infuriating voters and undermining their faith in politicians. The system is highly complex, essentially self-regulated by politicians and wide open to abuse. And, as evidenced by Slipper's unique ordeal before the courts, riddled with inconsistency.
