I believe Senator Brandis HAS NOT READ HALF OF THE BOOKS HE HAS PURCHASED — being so busy chastising Craig Thomson for buying a couple of ice-creams on Union expenses, which Thomson may not have done. I could be wrong about the tired book worm but even if George is a speed reader, he might have missed sumpthin'....

Brandis should give at least half of the money back or donate most of the books to the local Marrickville library... where he can come and read them at his leisure and discuss with Anthony Albanese...

After or preferably before this of course, Brandis should sack himself from the office of Attorney General which he has disgraced.

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Thousands claimed after politicians attend an Indian wedding, write James Robertson and Jonathan Swan.

It was among the most lavish weddings in Indian history.

Gina Rinehart flew three Coalition MPs from Perth to Hyderabad in a private jet, where they watched the granddaughter of her business partner marry in front of 10,000 guests.

But Barnaby Joyce, Julie Bishop and Teresa Gambaro collectively claimed more than $12,000 in ''overseas study'' allowances to pay for their flights home.

Mrs Rinehart was about to clinch a $1 billion coal deal with the bride's grandfather - G.V. Krishna Reddy, the founder of GVK, one of India's largest energy and infrastructure companies.

Forbes India reported that the invitations to the wedding of Mallika Reddy in June 2011 were sent out with golden statuettes to Bollywood stars, politicians and socialites.

In the name of fostering stronger ties with India, Mrs Rinehart invited Australian politicians to be her guests at the wedding. The three Coalition MPs accepted, while Labor's then resources minister Martin Ferguson rejected the billionaire's offer, telling The Age he did ''not think it appropriate to attend''. What was not reported at the time was the extent to which Australian taxpayers helped pay for the politicians' travel.

Mr Joyce said he was struck by the scale of the 10,000-guest celebration. ''I must admit it was absolutely mind-blowing,'' he said.

After a private jet flew him to Malaysia, Mr Joyce claimed a $5500 flight home for him and his wife out of Kuala Lumpur.

The day of the flight, Mr Joyce met Malaysian officials, at noon and at 3pm, before flying home at 10pm.

''My study period in this country was only of one day's duration,'' Mr Joyce wrote in an obligatory report about his study tour, ''but it was of great assistance in familiarising myself with Malaysia.''

Mr Joyce summarised his top five findings in the opening page of his report. The first read: ''Malaysia has recently experienced high levels of economic growth which has created urban cities comparable in wealth to cities in developed countries.''

Mr Joyce's second major finding was that economic disadvantage in Malaysia remains, particularly in rural areas.

Mr Joyce defended his use of another $3600 in taxpayer entitlements, used to fly him and his wife to Perth, the day before the couple boarded a private jet to Hyderabad from that city.

A spokeswoman for the Agriculture Minister told Fairfax Media that Mr Joyce and his wife attended ''a range of official meetings with business people and Senate colleagues'' in Perth that day, on which he also claimed $350 in travelling allowance.

Mr Joyce's spokeswoman refused to say which senators or business people attended those meetings.

Department of Finance guidelines state that politicians' taxpayer-funded travel, other than for business in their own electorate, must relate to their parliamentary title, or party-political business in special circumstances such as a national conference.

Ms Bishop claimed a $3445 flight home to Perth from Hyderabad, also claiming her trip as a ''study tour''.

Ms Bishop's report says she briefly attended a ''formal'' wedding ceremony but argues the primary purpose of her trip was to meet Indian energy and infrastructure companies that have Australian interests, and lists eight such meetings.

Half of Ms Bishop's meetings involved members of the Reddy family, which includes some of India's leading industrialists and politicians.

In Ms Bishop's ''overseas study'' report she says three of her meetings occurred on Saturday, June 11 - the day of the wedding. One of these meetings involved the bride's grandfather and Mrs Rinehart's business partner, Dr G.V.K. Reddy.

Asked about her wedding-day meetings, Ms Bishop said: ''The wedding started at 6pm on the Saturday night. The meetings were held prior to the wedding.''

Ms Bishop said she also attended a wedding-related function on the Friday night, the day she met two members of the Reddy family along with other business executives.

''I took part in meetings on the Thursday, Friday and Saturday and then attended the wedding and reception for under two hours in the early evening,'' she said.

Teresa Gambaro, the re-elected member for Brisbane, was the third Coalition MP to attend the wedding. Ms Gambaro claimed $3446 in ''overseas study travel'' for the trip. The purpose of Ms Gambaro's trip, according to her report, was to observe an international development program including four meetings with development groups for impoverished children, ''HIV-affected families, widows, women and poor farmers''.

A spokesman said Ms Gambaro had nothing further to add.

Big bucks For MPs' Bollywood Adventure

from the shovel ….

Experts from the Finance Department say Prime Minister Tony Abbott was right to claim flights to Sophie Mirabella’s wedding as a work expense, suggesting the event could more accurately be described as hard labour.

“There’s work, there’s hard work, and then there’s spending an evening with the former member for Indi. I’m surprised he didn’t claim more,” said one official.

“I’ve been to training seminars that are more fun,” said one Sydney resident who was at the wedding. “I think we should be thankful that our elected representatives are willing to give up their free time to go to events like this.

Tony definitely took one for the team”.

Coalition MPs are endangering their reputations as economic managers by charging taxpayers for personal indulgences such as wedding travel, warns former leader John Hewson.

Dr Hewson's call for higher standards follows a string of expenses scandals involving senior members of the Coalition, including Prime Minister Tony Abbott, billing taxpayers to attend weddings.

Communications Minister Malcolm Turnbull said MPs should use their judgment and err on the side of not making expense claims if they had any doubts. Dr Hewson said: "I don't believe in unlimited access to the public purse."

Fairfax Media can also reveal that a cycling enthusiast from Queensland, Labor MP Bernie Ripoll, enjoyed several stages of the Tour de France during a taxpayer-funded ''study tour'' to inspect the country's bicycle infrastructure. The study tour cost taxpayers $5474 but Mr Ripoll said he used five days of ''personal time'' to watch the cycling event, as he was entitled to do.

On Sunday, Fairfax Media revealed that three Coalition MPs - Julie Bishop, Barnaby Joyce and Teresa Gambaro - had claimed more than $12,000 in travel expenses to return from a lavish wedding in India where they were guests of billionaire Gina Rinehart.

Mr Abbott also confirmed he repaid $1095 spent in travelling to the wedding of former colleague Sophie Mirabella seven years ago. The return of the money was prompted by media inquiries last week.

Dr Hewson, a former Liberal leader, said any new prime minister must set clear standards for the team as the ''fish rots from the head''.

Coalition MPs couldn't ''run on the line that [they] want to control government expenditure'' and at the same time waste taxpayers' money on their personal lives.

''I think that in the early days of any government you need to set the standards,'' Dr Hewson said.

But former Howard government minister Peter Reith disagreed, describing the wedding expense scandals as ''petty'' and arguing that politicians should be entitled to unlimited travel.

''I don't understand how you can have a system which says that some things that ministers do are part of business and others aren't,'' Mr Reith said.

''I think it's ridiculous putting limits on where ministers can go.''

Expenses scandals marred the early days of the Howard government with seven cabinet ministers resigning after breaching rules that required ministers to divest shares in portfolios they oversaw and be truthful in Parliament.

As a minister Mr Reith racked up a $50,000 phone bill at taxpayers' expense, which he repaid.

Asked whether taxpayers should foot the bill for MPs to attend weddings, Mr Reith said: ''Since when is that not being part of being a politician, you know, going out for lunch with a shock jock or going to his wedding? You'd be a mug if you didn't go to a shock jock's wedding if you're invited.''

In the past week, Attorney-General George Brandis and Agriculture Minister Mr Joyce reimbursed taxpayers after Fairfax Media revealed they had used public funds to attend the wedding of their friend, broadcaster Michael Smith, in 2011.

Mr Turnbull said the rules had been ''a little bit ambiguous at the time'' and it was not uncommon for politicians to reimburse money. ''The better course of action is to err on a more conservative side and if there is any doubt then don't make a claim,'' Mr Turnbull told the ABC's Insiders on Sunday.

Former prime minister Julia Gillard's office has previously defended her use of a VIP jet to attend the wedding of her press secretary in Byron Bay last March, saying Ms Gillard had other commitments in the area.

Last month documents released under freedom of information laws showed Ms Gillard repaid $4243 in 2007 when she was deputy opposition leader in relation to her partner Tim Mathieson's private use of a taxpayer-funded car.

Abbott repays expenses after Mirabella wedding

Big bucks for MPs' Bollywood adventure

MP explains tour de good luck

Expenses Scandal Spreads

nearby …..

Labor MP and cycling enthusiast Bernie Ripoll enjoyed several stages of the Tour de France on a taxpayer-funded study tour to inspect the country's bicycle infrastructure.

Mr Ripoll - a member of the Riders on the Hill cross-party parliamentary cycling group that includes Prime Minister Tony Abbott - took the $5474 study tour in July 2011.

The Queensland MP submitted a travel report to Parliament but did not mention using the opportunity to witness parts of the Tour de France, which Australian rider Cadel Evans went on to win.

Mr Ripoll told Fairfax Media on Sunday he had watched ''a couple of stages'' during five days of ''personal time'' listed in the report, as he was entitled to do.

''Everything's above board,'' he said.

''The timing is fortunate because it is that time of year when we get a break [from Parliament] and it was a good opportunity for me to do a study tour in the sense of things I have been working on for many years.''

Mr Ripoll said the purpose of his July 12 to 24 trip was ''to research and better understand cycling infrastructure policy and development'' and transport solutions.

In his obligatory travel report, Mr Ripoll explained he would ''also be travelling to regional parts of France through towns and cities to research cycling infrastructure and related policies in those towns''.

Official events included a meeting with the France Australia Friendship Group and attendance at the French National Day celebrations on the invitation of then-president Nicolas Sarkozy.

Mr Ripoll met Francois Pontios ''to discuss the importance of the French National Day and the activities, parades and officials that are in attendance''.

During his three days in Paris, he conducted an ''inspection of Paris rail, public transport system and pedestrian cycle systems'' including the city's popular bike hire scheme.

Mr Ripoll later travelled to Toulouse and Montpellier to inspect their rail, bus, tram, cycle and pedestrian systems, saying the visits showed the benefit of a ''co-ordinated policy approach''.

But he listed July 19 to 23 as ''personal time/research transport systems'' and this was when he took in some of the Tour de France. On those days, the premier cyclists made their way from the mountainous Saint-Paul-Trois-Chateaux area towards Grenoble.

Mr Ripoll said on Sunday everyone was entitled to personal time but stressed the event charged no entry fee and there was no extra cost to taxpayers.

''If I was close by and happy to be there, that's all the better. I didn't deliberately go to places it was in,'' he said.

The French-born MP said he wanted to make clear he was unaccompanied on the study tour, but would not confirm if he had visited family, saying the question was ''very personal''.

Finance Department reports show the French study tour cost taxpayers $5474, including $3918 on fares and $613 on ground transport.

Mr Ripoll's parliamentary report called for the reshaping of Australian planning to ''reverse the trend of sedentary populations''. His visit gave him ''a better understanding of how policies can be developed to promote change''.

MP Explains Tour De Good Luck

So, former Howard government Minister & mobile phone connoisseur, Peter Reith, reckons a politician would be “a mug” if they didn’t attend a shock jock’s wedding, if invited.

Of course, Reith would take us all for mugs by not expecting us to differentiate between legitimate activities undertaken on government business, which should be funded by taxpayers, & the games that politicians play to advance their own personal interests, which I’m damned if we should pay for.

If it looks like a phoney, walks like a phoney & sounds like a phoney, then chances are it’s a phoney.

from the shovel ….

Nationals MP Barnaby Joyce says he will undertake a long and careful analysis of the impact of the economic crisis on Greek’s islands and their resort infrastructure, as part of an extensive study tour planned for the next European summer.

Mr Joyce said the trip would provide important information for Australian businesses. “There’s this sense that you can get economic data from a website or by talking to an embassy employee,” he said this morning. “Fact is, until you’re there, mixing with the locals and sampling the local way of life, it’s all just guess work. Greece could be booming for all we know. I’ve taken it upon myself to make sure all Australians are informed on the true situation”.

Mr Joyce said it will be important to travel to a range of the country’s islands, to reflect on the different ways a recession can affect an economy. “How have resorts been affected? What about restaurants, night clubs? How have the small remote islands held up compared with the more bustling, party-driven islands? It will all be in my report at the end of the trip”.

The member for New England dismissed the notion that there were cheaper, more efficient ways of learning about the European nation. “This isn’t some kind of junket. I’ll be sailing from place to place on predominantly wind-powered vessels, not jetting about in first class,” he said.

Study Tour Required To Confirm To What Extent Greek Islands Affected By GFC: Joyce