More allegations ... Peter Slipper / Pic: Gary Ramage Source: The Daily Telegraph
FORMER speaker Peter Slipper sought to conceal $1200 in luxury hire-car trips to visit Canberra wineries and the office of the Pope's representative in Australia by "dishonestly" adjusting Cabcharge vouchers, the Australian Federal Police has alleged.
Documents filed in the ACT Magistrates Court show the AFP will allege Mr Slipper signed multiple Cabcharge dockets despite knowing he "was not entitled" to use his parliamentary entitlements to visit the wineries in 2010.
Over three dates in January, April and June the Queensland MP allegedly used taxpayer-funded hire cars to visit some of the national capital's best wineries and restaurants, including Clonakilla, whose award-winning shiraz viognier has won multiple medals and retails for around $100 a bottle.
The man who stood down from parliament's highest office last October after graphic text messages were published faces the possibility of a jail sentence, with the offences carrying a maximum penalty of five years imprisonment.
The Daily Telegraph in April 2012 revealed Mr Slipper had extensively used Canberra Hire Cars for transport around Canberra. One driver with the hire car firm also confirmed an arrangement with Mr Slipper, under which he would insist on filling out multiple dockets to cover a single trip.
Canberra Hire Cars was used by Mr Slipper on two of the three days cited by the AFP in its nine-page filing with the court. According to documents, the MP allegedly visited some of Canberra's best-known wineries, including Doonkuna, Jeir Creek, Yass Valley Wines and Shaw Estate on January 20, 2010 but "deliberately did not fill in in the actual fare" - $337.
Instead, he allegedly filled out four paper dockets with destinations filled in as "suburbs to suburbs", "Parliament House to suburbs" and "suburbs to Parliament House".
"The details were false, to his knowledge. His intention was to hide from the Department of Finance and Administration the fact that he had used the Cabcharge card when he knew he was not entitled to do so," the AFP alleges.
The allegations are a major setback for the former speaker, who three weeks ago secured a victory when allegations of sexual harassment were thrown out in the Federal Court. His accuser, former adviser James Ashby, alleged he saw Mr Slipper signing blank Cabcharge dockets on visits to Sydney in early 2012. Those allegations are not the subject of the court action.
The MP still faces another tough court battle during an election year, with the AFP and the Commonwealth Director of Public Prosecutions claiming he breached section 135.1 (5) of the Criminal Code Act. The matter is set down for an initial court hearing on February 15 in Canberra, when Mr Slipper will be charged by the AFP with "dishonestly (causing) a risk of loss".
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