Coalition MP caught not declaring all-expense-paid-junket to Taiwan

Liberal National MP Leon Rebello didn't declare accepting free international flights, accommodation, and meals from the Taiwanese government until questioned by Open Politics about his recent junket to Taiwan.

We reported in early June that Rebello was one of seven Coalition and Labor politicians to visit Taiwan from late April to early May at the invitation of the Taiwan Economic & Cultural Office in Australia, the Republic of China’s de facto embassy in Australia.

At the time we noticed Rebello and Senator Anne Ruston, the Deputy Leader of the Opposition in the Senate,  were the only junketeers to have not declared their trips to the interest registers, so we contacted them to ask whether the Taiwanese government had covered all or part of their expenses.

Robello didn’t reply, but he must’ve read our email because the very next day he declared to the Register of Members’ Interests that the Taiwan Economic & Cultural Office in Australia paid for his flights and hospitality in Taiwan. And he ignored our follow up email on why he didn’t declare the trip within 28 days as required by parliamentary rules.

Senator Ruston didn’t respond to our emails either, with her office telling us she was overseas (“personally-funded!”) and “unavailable for comment” aka going to ground.

If the Taiwanese government did fund Ruston’s trip, she’s breached her disclosure obligations by not declaring it within 35 days (7 June).

An MP or senator who knowingly fails to declare their interests on time to the registers can be found in serious contempt of parliament and dealt with accordingly.

Joe Aston at a West Wing fantasy camp. Photo supplied

Former Rear Window columnist Joe Aston, who self-identifies as “Australia’s most incisive and courageous business commentator”,  does not come cheap, with subscribers to his business and finance publication Rampart having to cough up $65 a month or $680 a year for a ‘Premium Subscriber’ subscription.

And those who wish to be separated from even more of their money can join the ‘Chairman’s Lounge’ tier for $4,399 a year, which comes with Joe’s trenchant commentary plus invitations to “intimate, off-the-record events” and “luxury, limited edition merchandise” from an LA designer who happens to sell tees for $190.   

But Rampart is not all about making a buck as Aston has told Open Politics he’s started providing complimentary annual Premium Subscriber subscriptions to all federal MPs and their staff. Teal independent Monique Ryan is the only MP so far to have declared Rampart’s gift to the interests register.

Open Politics is not a fan of expensive freebies for MPs as they create pressure to return the favour, so we asked Aston what he hoped to gain with his generosity. "A larger audience", he said. Hmm. We’re not sure his paying subscribers will take kindly to the news that they’re subsidising Australia’s overpaid bloviator class. 

An AI image of Parliament House. A very similar image was provided to Senator David Pocock.

Independent senator David Pocock has declared receiving a framed AI ‘artwork’ of Parliament House with a value of $179. This struck us as pricey for AI slop as it's necessarily devoid of human creativity. Was Pocock’s valuation missing a decimal point, we wondered. Did he mean $1.79? No, it turns out even less than that. Pocock’s office told Open Politics the $179 valuation was for the frame.