‘Mid-life crisis’ conference just ticket for the blues
May 2015
Defence Minister Linda Reynolds charged taxpayers $5,500 so she could attend a weekend conference put on by her husband’s employer – and go to a ball.
As a new Liberal senator for WA, Reynolds claimed $1,268 on the public purse in May 2015 so she could fly to Brisbane return from Canberra for an Australian Medical Association cocktail party event. Her husband Robert Reid was the AMA’s director of communications, according to the Daily Mail Australia.
Department of Finance records reportedly show Senator Reynolds charged taxpayers $363.43 to fly from Canberra to Brisbane on the Friday and another $695.56 to return to Canberra on the Sunday.
On those days, the senator also claimed for Comcar transport to and from the airports, adding up to $209.
A spokeswoman for the senator said the AMA ‘officially invited’ her to its May 2015 national conference ‘in her capacity as a senator for WA, and as a member of both Senate Community Affairs committees’.
Two months later, in July 2015, Senator Reynolds charged taxpayers $4,242 to travel from her Perth electorate office to the WA resort town of Broome.
While their visit coincided with the weekend races, a spokeswoman said Senator Reynolds was there to attend a NAIDOC week ball to which she and her partner were officially invited and she also held community meetings and events.
A 30-year veteran of the mainstream media, Liz was the editor of MWMuntil June 2021. Liz began her career in journalism in 1990 and worked at The Age newspaper for two 10-year stints. She also worked at The Guardian newspaper in London for more than seven years. A former professional tennis player who represented Australia in the 1984 Los Angeles Olympics, Liz has a Bachelor of Arts and a Bachelor of Letters (Hons).