How many Australian MPs would pass the pub test if voters read the list of perks they’ve received for sitting in the most powerful building in the land?
As the prime minister has pointed out, he has not sought to hide those upgrades.
He just has Joe Aston, and the former Australian Financial Review columnist’s new book on the national carrier, to thank for the sudden scrutiny.
But the prime minister is far from the only politician to benefit from the national carrier’s generosity, or to benefit from a freebie.
Parliamentary rules dictate MPs must disclose a range of interests – holdings companies, family and business trusts, the property they own, sponsored hospitality and travel, gifts worth more than $750, and “any other interests where a conflict of interest with a Member’s public duties could foreseeably arise or be seen to arise”.
The registers are updated regularly and publicly …