Well, Canberra’s latest scandal is now 24 hours old, and the consequences are beginning to land.
Yesterday, New Idea Magazine revealed that married Nationals MP Andrew Broad had been using a dating website to meet women overseas who were after a “sugar daddy”.
Aside from the awkward fact that Broad had called on Barnaby Joyce to stand down when his own infidelity was revealed, there’s also the issue of using tax-payer cash to wine and dine women twenty years his junior.
https://twitter.com/broad4mallee/status/966422178185994241
Careful with that Twitter button, kids
Broad resigned as assistant minister to the deputy PM and claimed that the woman making the claim to New Idea may have been committing a crime.
As it turns out, telling a gossip mag that a politician was toting himself as James Bond to you over a dinner in Hong Kong isn’t an offence.
The ABC has confirmed that Broad will pay back two flights that he took from the town of Mildura to Melbourne that he charged taxpayers for, citing the aforementioned conference in Hong Kong as “personal business.”
The flights will amount to about $480.
Broad is remaining a sitting member of parliament despite the scandal
Speaking on his colleague, Nationals leader and deputy Prime Minister Michael McCormack told reporters yesterday that “I would like to think that somebody who was going to represent the National party was entirely focused on the people we serve.”
McCormack confirmed that he knew about the scandal “a few weeks ago” and had encouraged Mr Broad to contact the Police, but didn’t tell Prime Minister Scott Morrison until yesterday, as the story broke.
When asked why he didn’t tell his boss that his coalition was about to be dragged through yet another saucy scandal, McCormack noted that “I thought it was a personal matter between him (Mr Broad) and his family.”
“I don’t tell the Prime Minister absolutely everything about every Member of Parliament, he’s got enough on his mind at the moment.”
If recent events are anything to go by, if the Prime Minister knew about the liaisons that every member of parliament had, question time would look more like an episode of Jerry Springer.
Oh, and did we mention Mr Broad referred to himself as James Bond? Don’t let that ever be forgotten.
National frontbencher or o.g. MI6 poster boy?
