United Australia Party senator bills taxpayers for $10k Broome trip
June 2019
Former Clive Palmer senator Brian Burston charged taxpayers more than $10,000 to fly with his wife to Broome in the final days of his term, despite having already lost his Senate seat, according to The Age.
Mr Burston and his wife travelled to Broome via Melbourne from their home in Newcastle on June 21, days after the Australian Electoral Commission (AEC) announced that Mr Burston had failed to retain his NSW Senate spot.
He declared the trip was for “parliamentary duties”, and said he met with Labor senator Patrick Dodson, who lives in Broome, and examined “interests” he had in the Pilbara region. According to The Age and SMH, Senator Dodson said through a spokesman that he had no recollection of meeting Mr Burston in Broome and there was no mention of such a meeting in his diary.
Mr Burston also claimed the trip occurred before the AEC declared the Senate results, so he could have still been re-elected at the time. But that was wrong: the results were announced on June 17 and formally declared the next day. His term expired on June 30.