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Explained: How Malcolm Turnbull Plans To Fix MP Entitlements Mess

The PM announced it as Sussan Ley resigned over taxpayer funded claims.
Australian Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull has announced a new parliamentary body to keep watch on MPs entitlements, after a scandal engulfed his government.
David Gray / Reuters
Australian Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull has announced a new parliamentary body to keep watch on MPs entitlements, after a scandal engulfed his government.

An independent parliamentary authority will monitor and judge expenses by Federal MPs in the wake of an entitlements scandal engulfing Malcolm Turnbull's government.

Federal Health Minister Sussan Ley resigned from cabinet on Friday, days after she stood aside spending an investigation into extravagant travel spending.

In his first press conference for 2017, Turnbull told reporters the government believes the work expenses of parliamentarians, including ministers, should be administered and overseen by an independent agency.

  • The government will continue toimplement the recommendations of a review into the parliamentary entitlements system;
  • New system to be modelled on the UK's entitlements system;
  • The system that manages entitlements will be modernised to allow monthly disclosure of parliamentarians' expenses in an accessible, searchable, format;
  • The body will be governed by an independent board, and is to include an experienced auditor, a person with wide experience in remuneration matters, the president of the remuneration tribunal, a former judicial officer and a former MP.

The independent parliamentary expenses authority will be a compliance, reporting and transparency body which will monitor and adjudicate all claims by MPs, senators and ministers.

"It is very important to remember that there are 226 members of the House, engaged in public service, all of them seeking, in my view -- in my sincere view, all of them seeking to do the right thing by the people of Australia," Turnbull said.

"What you find with these issues is often the result of mistake, it is often the result of errors of judgement, but above all, what we need to do is ensure that the Australian people are satisfied, satisfied beyond any shadow of doubt, that Parliamentarians are spending their expenses appropriately."

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