The question of proper parliamentary and government work expenses remains unresolved. Whether rural MPs should use charter flights or commercial airlines is the latest aspect.
Every element of political work expenses is now under sceptical public scrutiny. The recent case of former Minister for Health Sussan Ley is just one of many questionable instances which have stained reputations and ended careers.
Too many politicians have been involved to see it as anything other than a systemic problem. Such individuals should always be held responsible but there is a genuine problem to be resolved.
The central question at the heart of the entitlements issue is what is a legitimate work expense for politicians. The matter of who should then pay for it is controversial but ultimately secondary.
Political representation is a distinctive occupation. Ministers and MPs have a job in which their 'work' is not easily defined. Meeting and greeting is essential. Constituents demand it of their MP, and it is widely regarded as a key to being a good politician.
MPs are encouraged to go on 'listening tours' around their electorate. In the case of senators this legitimately means the whole state. For federal ministers like Ley it means the whole country.
Unfortunately, however, as Simon Cowan of the Centre for Independent Studies correctly notes, 'should a politician want to be in a particular location for personal reasons, they can essentially manufacture legitimate business anywhere in the country'.
This is true especially of ministers, and the more senior the minister, the easier it is for such travel to be explained away as work. Events can either be initiated by individual constituents or groups who then invite politicians, or created by the politician who then invites members of the public.
"If it is a major sporting event, like football finals, it may not look like work but it is, even for political leaders who genuinely enjoy such events. For non-sporting leaders it may be excruciating."
They can be party political or community events organised by groups like chambers of commerce, trade unions or professional bodies, or school fetes, prayer meetings, demonstrations or factory tours. The diary of any politician is filled with such events.
The bigger ticketed events such as sporting and cultural events, which often look like rorts, regularly feature free tickets for politicians to attend as the guest of the organisers. The ticket may be free but the politician, often accompanied by their partner, is expected to pay for