Abbott flies RAAF jet to donor’s birthday bash at golf club
March 2015
As prime minister Tony Abbott flew to Melbourne in a RAAF jet to attend the birthday party of mining millionaire and Liberal Party donor Paul Marks at Huntingdale Golf Club.
Abbott flew from Sydney with a group of people after the NSW Liberal Party election launch.
His office defended the use of the VIP jet, which cost about $4000 an hour to run, saying Abbott had work-related engagements in Melbourne on Sunday.
“All travel was undertaken with the rules,” Abbott’s spokesman said, but he did not answer questions from journalists on what the work engagements were.
As the parliamentary expenses authority explains: “MPs must be prepared to publicly justify their use of expenses.”
Tony Abbott fails to declare daughter’s scholarship connected to donor