Alp's 'burnie Bedouin' Target Of Travel Rorts Claim
The Age
Monday September 29, 1997
Canberra
The Federal Government yesterday turned the focus of the travel rorts affair on to the Opposition, accusing the ALP frontbencher Senator Nick Sherry of overclaiming his travel allowance.
The Treasurer, Mr Peter Costello, dubbed the Tasmanian senator the "Bedouin of Burnie" for claiming 240 nights' travel allowance in one year.
The parliamentary attack, a central part of the Government's fightback in the damaging row, was based on a comment by Senator Sherry's frontbench colleague Mr Simon Crean at the weekend that "Nick Sherry doesn't own a home".
"So, apparently, because you do not own a home you can claim a travel allowance every night - because you have got no home to go to," Mr Costello told Parliament.
"Here we have the Bedouin of Burnie: he lives in Burnie, has got no home and claimed for 240 nights.
"In fact . . . he claims his office and his home are at the same place. The only reason he does not claim travel allowance when he is allegedly at home is because he is sleeping in his office, I presume."
Senator Sherry told the Senate that, contrary to Mr Crean's comment, he did own a house in Burnie and that he could justify every night he had spent elsewhere on account of his parliamentary and frontbench responsibilities.
In a vigorous defence, he told Parliament that the Government had mounted "a particularly weak and spineless display". He said that in the past three-and-a-half years he had, on average, spent three nights a month in Hobart, for which he properly claimed travel allowance.
Senator Sherry's official office is in Devonport, and a spokesman said that he maintained a "semi-official office" from his terrace house in Burnie. This was not taxpayer-financed, although it included a phone, fax machine and computer which were.
A spokesman for Senator Sherry said those items were investigated by the Department of Administrative Services four months ago "and everything checked out fine with them".
He needed to use one room as an office, it was claimed, because residents of Burnie were hostile to the thought of travelling the 35 minutes to Devonport to see their senator. One source said: "Even though it's only half an hour, it's a bit like the Sydney-Melbourne thing to them."
Senator Sherry told Parliament he had spent no more nights in Hobart than the coalition's NSW senator David Brownhill had spent in Sydney. "Senator Brownhill has exactly the same responsibilities and duties that I had (when in government)," he said.
The Opposition also identified instances in which it claimed the Veterans' Affairs Minister, Mr Bruce Scott, had claimed an allowance for nights spent elsewhere than stated.
THE LATEST TARGETS
* Opposition deputy Senate leader, Nick Sherry, dubbed the 'Bedouin from Burnie' by Treasurer, Peter Costello, for claiming 240 nights' travel allowance in one year. Sherry claims he needed to visit Hobart frequently, as part of his official duties.
* Veterans' Affairs Minister, Bruce Scott, accused of claiming travel allowance for all but 46 of the 285 nights between 11 March and 18 December 1996. Also accused of claiming for nights of 3 and 17 June and 25 September 1996 when he apparently spent those nights in another city.
* Department of Administrative Services to investigage the alleged unauthorised use of a hire car during last year's Lindsay byelection. The Government claims that a member of Mr Kim Beazley's staff, Ms M. Horne, used a hire car from 4 to 18 October, costing the taxpayer $1110.25.
© 1997 The Age
