When a member of Federal parliament manages to make enemies in both political persuasions, he will be shown no mercy when indiscretions begin to surface. All our parliamentary representatives are past masters in the art of " bending the rules " when it comes to the generous allowances that go with their jobs. From time to time there is criticism about living arrangements when absent from the family home for parliamentary business, but these are generally covered on a " nod and a wink " basis.
Peter Slipper earned the animosity of the Liberal party when he defected to serve as the house speaker. He managed to enrage the Labor party when the prime minister defended him publicly, only to have him step down as speaker without making this intention known, leaving her stranded.
Now Slipper faces damaging allegations. The police allege that on three occasions in 2010 Peter Slipper used a hire car to visit Wineries in the Canberra area and that on each occasion he paid for the hire by using Commonwealth cab vouchers. It is alleged that these trips were not within the scope of his entitlements and that the destination was concealed by nominating bogus suburb to suburb fictitious trips to accumulate the distance travelled. It is claimed that this imposed a financial loss to the Commonwealth.
If Slipper is found guilty of these charges, they can have serious consequences for his liberty and financial position. If they result in a gaol term of more than twelve months he would automatically lose his seat in parliament, and there seems a real risk that a conviction might result in cancellation of the generous parliamentary superannuation that was enhanced by his short term in the speakers chair. Slipper seems entitled to a pension of $ 157,000 a year - for life !
He is in a tenuous position - with the proverbial " Sword of Damocles " hanging over his head. His vote is not critical to the survival of the government, but he can expect no help from either side of politics. This is an election year and when the election is called he would expect to be challenged by others in his seat because of the events that cast doubt on his ability to remain in parliament.
No doubt the public will follow the progress of this court case with interest. The position of speaker is of high standing similar to cabinet rank, hence Slipper has fallen from high office. There is the expectation of public disapproval when a person getting a high salary exhibits greed by rorting allowances and this will cast the finger of suspicion at all parliamentary representatives.
Perhaps a case of those who live by the sword - die by the sword !
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