This article is from the source 'guardian' and was first published or seen
on .
It last changed over 40 days ago and won't be checked again for changes.
New senators reveal hospitality they have received and business interests
New senators reveal hospitality they have received and business interests
(about 3 hours later)
The newest group of senators have declared their interests to parliament, revealing the hospitality and accommodation received before they took up their seats and shedding light on their wealth, or lack of it.
New senators were flown to the formula one race in Melbourne by cigarette company Philip Morris and hosted in Sri Lanka by the opposition party in the lead-up to being sworn in.
In their first pecuniary interest returns, published on the parliamentary website on Wednesday, the Liberal Democratic senator David Leyonhjelm appears to be the wealthiest of the new senators, holding shares in Australand, Healthscope, Multiplex, Suncorp, Tabcorp, Elders, NAB, Westpac and Woodside Petroleum.
The interests declarations of the 12 new senators have been published and show hospitality they received between their election last September and their first month as senators after taking their seats in July.
He also has an interest in an agribusiness consultancy, Baron Strategic Services, and has a farm at Hargraves in New South Wales’s central west, as well as a house and commercial property in Drummoyne, Sydney.
Philip Morris flew Liberal Democratic party senator David Leyonhjelm to Melbourne so he could be its guest at the grand prix, while the Palmer United party senators all declared trips to America at the party’s expense.
He is one of several of the new senators who received free travel and hospitality. Leyonhjelm was a guest of tobacco company Philip Morris International at the Melbourne Formula One grand prix in March.
Liberal National party senator James McGrath flew to Israel for an Australia/Israel/UK dialogue at the end of July and was upgraded from business class to first class on his return from Bangkok on 30 July. In June, Sri Lanka’s opposition United National party flew McGrath to the country on business class for a two-day trip.
The senator also reveals he is the treasurer and registered officer of two political parties – the Liberal Democratic party and the Outdoor Recreation party.
McGrath also declared the paid work he did for KPMG, Santos, the Pharmacy Guild, the WA and NSW divisions of the Liberal Party and the National Retail Association in the period between being elected in September and taking his seat in July.
The Liberal National party’s Matt Canavan has declared the receipt of “discounted Angus beef” from his former employer Stanbroke, for whom he worked from October 2013 to June this year.
Motoring Enthusiast party senator Ricky Muir had two suits bought for him by PUP and declared flights to Sydney and Canberra for meetings with the party for which PUP footed the bills.
He has also received air tickets from the Australian Banana Growers Council, the Grassland Society of Southern Australia and Smart Infrastructure at the University of Wollongong.
Western Australia Labor senator Joe Bullock declared the Shop Distributive and Allied Employees’ Association of which he is the WA president gave him a car and he also has a house in Perth, in addition to his home, which he had bought for his mother who has since died.
From his election in September 2013 until January this year he was a consultant with the Nationals.
PUP senator Jacqui Lambie was flown to Cairns by the national peak body for vegetable farmers, AusVeg, in June, while her colleague, Glenn Lazarus, revealed an investment portfolio of five properties in Queensland.
The Palmer United party senators Dio Wang and Glenn Lazarus declared trips to Coolum on the Sunshine Coast and the US city of Boston, courtesy of their party.
WA Liberal senator Linda Reynolds revealed a holiday house on Indonesia’s Lembongan Island.
Their PUP colleague Jacqui Lambie did not initially declare the trips and only noted a personal bank account and credit card on her register. But on Wednesday she updated the register to include trips to Coolum, Boston and Washington DC after advice from the Senate clerk.
The government needs to negotiate with the new senate crossbenchers, who will sit for the next six years, to pass legislation Labor and the Greens oppose.
Lazarus also declared a residential property and four investment properties he holds jointly with his partner.
Ricky Muir, from the Australian Motoring Enthusiast party, received two suits from the Palmer United party and trips to Sydney, Coolum, Canberra and Boston courtesy of PUP.
The LNP senator James McGrath received travel to Israel from the Australia-Israel-UK leadership dialogue in July and a business-class trip to Sri Lanka courtesy of the United National party. He also undertook contract work, between his election and June this year, with Santos, KPMG, Pharmacy Guild, National Retail Association and the NSW and Western Australia divisions of the Liberal party.
The Labor senator Joe Bullock noted a motor vehicle received from the Shop Distributive and Allied Employees Association, of which he is WA president and national vice-president.
His Queensland Labor counterpart Chris Ketter has a house in Brisbane and two investment properties.
The WA Liberal senator Linda Reynolds has a consultancy business, for which she ceased to work on 30 June, and a holiday home on Indonesia’s Lembongan Island.
