Ah, those Ministerial "expenses"!

The current kerfuffle over one of the Federal MPs claiming a hefty sum as "expenses" in order to attend the birthday party of a friend is interesting.

It is interesting for several reasons. The first is that the "meeting" she claimed to be claiming expenses for did not take place. A chat on the sidelines of a birthday party is not a serious sit down meeting. I know how those work. I have attended a great many of them for one reason or another. 

The second is that it was only when a journalist did some digging that it was paid back. Perhaps the journalist was digging because this was not the first time there had been a dodgy claim? 

The third is that the Prime Minister appears to believe this is nothing to worry about "because she has paid the money back". Really?

This is the same PM who is claiming millions in travel related expenses so "a few thousand" almost certainly seems insignificant to him. Perhaps I need to be more understanding.

It seems they do understand. They managed to oust a previous Speaker even after she repaid for that infamous helicopter ride. They managed to oust a Premier when he failed to declare a bottle of wine worth less than a $100. 

And the fact that another MP, this time the highest law officer in the land, also has expenses related issues which need to be addressed? Of course it is not a problem - unless the Opposition is responsible for such things and the media is not on your side.

I have eaten a working lunch with a Supreme Court judge. We very naughtily ate sandwiches and drank orange juice in a small garden space while he asked me questions. We each paid for our own sandwiches. 

I went to meet a then Prime Minister in his office at his request. They offered to send one of their cars to pick me up. I took a taxi and paid for it myself and was thanked for doing so because it did not need to appear on any expenses sheet.  I have done the same sort of thing for every Ministerial meeting I have ever attended.  It is the way I work. 

But, I suppose I am guilty of accepting a ride on one occasion. The Ministerial driver concerned lived about two hundred metres from me. The Minister I was meeting that day told me this. His driver would be coming from home with the car. He could pick me up on the way. I accepted. 

The driver actually proved to be someone I knew by sight. He greeted me with the words, "Not really out of the way at all. I just go down this street and not the next one." 

It was an excellent trip into the city and I admit it was tempting to accept a ride home as well. Those drivers are exceptionally well trained. I didn't. I caught the train home. It felt better that way.