Sussan Ley Finally Stands Down After Charging Taxpayers For A Stack Of Expensive Trips
Arthur Sinodinos will be the acting Health Minister.
After initially attempting to ride out the wave of controversy, health minister Sussan Ley has stood aside from her position following a growing expenses scandal.
Last week it emerged that Ley had bought a $795,000 luxury apartment while travelling to Queensland on a work related trip. Ley charged taxpayers the full cost of the stay and claimed she hadn’t planned on purchasing a property. According to Ley, she apparently decided to buy the investment property on impulse after attending the auction.
It was later revealed that the property was purchased from a Liberal party donor.
An ABC analysis found that Ley had travelled to the Gold Coast 20 times over the past three years, including on New Year’s Eve, and charged the taxpayer on each occasion.
Ley agreed to pay back the cost of four of those trips, but today Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull released a statement saying that Ley had agreed to stand aside without ministerial pay. Turnbull also announced that the an investigation into Ley’s travel claims will be undertaken.
.@sussanley says it was a mutually agreed outcome with @TurnbullMalcolm for her to step down temporarily. MORE: https://t.co/DB92We5otu pic.twitter.com/9CcwC6Q8hf
— Sky News Australia (@SkyNewsAust) January 8, 2017
As a backbencher Ley will now earn a measly $200,000 salary, down from the $360,000 a year paycheck she received as a cabinet minister.
It’s not just Ley’s domestic travel that’s created headlines. Last year she travelled to the US on a trip that cost the public more than $76,000. The trip lasted only seven days.
Ley’s ministerial responsibilities will temporarily be taken over by Arthur Sinodinos, who was himself previously stood down as Assistant Treasurer while he was providing evidence to a NSW corruption inquiry.
TURNBULL: We are replacing Sussan Ley with Arthur Sinodinos, as we unfortunately could not locate someone not under investigation
— j.r. hennessy (@jrhennessy) January 8, 2017
. @sussanley If you were thinking of ways to impulse spend $795,000 in future some embattled Centrelink recipients could use a leg up.
— Marieke Hardy (@mariekehardy) January 8, 2017
Sussan Ley stepping aside is a start. But many more pollies rorting the system. All my calls for reform ignored by Liberal/ALP. AW #auspol
— Andrew Wilkie MP (@WilkieMP) January 9, 2017
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Feature image via Sussan Ley