BREAKING: Foreign Minister Julie Bishop charged taxpayers $2,716 to attend the Portsea Polo for "official ministerial business" early last year. The worst part, she was a guest of Peroni and Jeep.

At the glamorous function, she was seen relaxing in a Mercedes Benz VIP marquee and did not appear to be working as she chilled in a sunhat and sandals. Fellow guests included models, socialites and Tony Abbott's daughter, Frances. But unlike the other guests, Ms Bishop didn’t pay to be there – we did.

Taxpayers like you and me were billed over two thousand dollars for her business class flights from Sydney to Melbourne and back to Perth. We paid for her car, and even chucked in a $123 travel allowance. All for a glitzy corporate party.

Bronwyn Bishop. Sussan Ley. And now Julie Bishop. This farce must end.

This is at the same time that the Government is threatening hundreds Australians on Centrelink with bad credit ratings and legal action if they refuse to sign up to payment plans to repay thousands of dollars in questionable debt. While our leaders punish the poorest Australians, they continue to throw money into the wind to fly business class and attend corporate events.

This scandal doesn’t stop with Julie Bishop.

• Senator Mathias Cormann billed taxpayers for a trip to the AFL Grand Final in 2013 as a guests of the National Australia Bank and received complimentary tickets and hospitality. NAB are a major donor to both political parties. Taxpayers paid $3,533 for him and his wife to fly business class to the match. Worst of all, he is the Senator in charge of the department that oversees politicians' entitlements. Trade Minister Steve Ciobo and Senator David Bushby also charged everyday Australians to attend the match
• Health Minister Sussan Ley reportedly charged taxpayers to attend a New Year’s Eve party on the Gold Coast as the guest of prominent millionaire businesswoman Sarina Russo, who won multimillion dollar contracts for jobseeker services under the Abbott Government.
• And none of us will forget Bronwyn Bishops escapades in helicopters anytime soon.

While politicians continue to reach into the public purse for questionable entitlements to attend corporate functions, they tell the rest of us that spending on vital services needs to be cut because of our budget emergency.

Enough is enough. Big corporations already have too much power in our democracy – the last thing we need is for taxpayers like you and me to cover the costs of them rubbing shoulders with politicians.

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