Peter Slipper

In 2010 Slipper drew significant local and national media attention over the alleged overuse of his parliamentary travel entitlements.[7][8][9][10][11] Slipper denied any claim of abuse and it was reported in the local newspaper, Sunshine Coast Daily, that ".... (Slipper had said) nearly every incident was a consequence of either a misunderstanding or a disputable interpretation of the rules."[12] The Leader of the Opposition, Tony Abbott, initially backed Slipper,[13] perhaps due to the fact that Slipper had voted for Abbott for the Liberal leadership in December 2009 which Abbott had won by one vote, but later publicly stated that it was up to each member to adhere to the rules regarding entitlements.[14]

Slipper has said that he has been cleared of these allegations.[15]

On 14 August 2010, just as the travel abuse allegations were gaining momentum, it was revealed in the Sunshine Coast Daily that a move had been made to attempt to disendorse Slipper in favour of former MP Mal Brough for his seat of Fisher at the next election. However, this move was rejected due to an agreement between the Liberal and National parties about guaranteed endorsement for existing candidates.[16]

By this time, it became apparent that Slipper would lose his LNP endorsement for the next election. With this in mind, Labor believed that Slipper was a potential "weak link" in the Coalition, and sought to use him to bolster its parliamentary standing.[5] On 28 September 2010, Slipper accepted Labor's nomination to serve as Deputy Speaker of the House of Representatives and was elected to that position by 78 votes to 71, defeating the Coalition nominee, Bruce Scott of the National Party.[17] In December 2010, Brough confirmed his intention to seek preselection, by running against Slipper.[18]

Concerned about the damage to the LNP's reputation in the electorate, in March 2011 a motion was moved at the party's Federal Divisional Council "that this Council notes the actions of the Member for Fisher in accepting nomination by the Labor Party for the position of Deputy Speaker and competing for this position in opposition to Mr Bruce Scott MP nominated for this position by the coalition parties and expresses its concern over the ongoing negative publicity directed at the Member for Fisher and the resulting damage to the Liberal National Party and requests the Applicant Review Committee to take note and take action as deemed appropriate". According to media reports, the matter was deferred without discussion to the party's state director.[19]

In September 2011, Slipper raised concerns of alleged branch stacking by Brough,[20] and there was growing pressure over how the LNP would determine preselection of candidates for the seat of Fisher,[21][22][23][24][25] with Slipper threatening to resign from the party if not re-endorsed.[26]

On 20 April 2012, Slipper was accused of misusing Cabcharge vouchers. These allegations were then investigated by the Australian Federal Police,[36] with a summons issued in January 2013 in relation to matters unconnected with the James Ashby allegations which were later withdrawn by Ashby.[37] He was also accused of sexually harassing James Ashby who was a member of his staff. Ashby, a 33-year-old gay man,[38] alleged that Slipper sexually harassed him on a number of occasions, via mobile phone text messages and in private conversations. A sexual harassment case regarding these allegations was dismissed by the Federal Court on 12 December 2012, after Slipper argued that the charges were "vexatious and an abuse of the legal process".[39]

The Opposition Leader, Tony Abbott,[40] and other senior Opposition figures such as the Leader of the Opposition in the Senate, Eric Abetz,[41] called for Slipper to resign until Ashby's claims were investigated.[42] The Government said it was a legal matter and that they would not be asking for Slipper's resignation. However, in April 2012, Slipper briefly stepped aside from the speakership, resumed the position shortly afterwards, but announced to the House in May that he would not take the chair in the House for the time being (and therefore not enter the chamber of the House as Speaker), while investigations into the alleged travel-related misconduct were conducted.[43] The Coalition, as well as Rob Oakeshott, Andrew Wilkie and Tony Windsor,[44] called on Slipper to continue to stand aside pending a resolution of the sexual harassment claims.

On 27 April 2012, Slipper released copies of Cabcharge documents for at least two of the dates in question (a third group of documents contained illegible dates) along with a written statement saying they were clearly in his handwriting, therefore disproving the allegation he handed over blanks.[45] The Government agreed, but various questions about the documents, including whether the payments were inflated[46] and even whether Slipper signed them all,[47] were raised in the media. Julia Gillard announced on 29 April 2012 that she had spoken to Slipper and he had agreed to stay away from the House for "a further period".[48]

On 8 May 2012, Slipper resumed the chair as Speaker and read out a statement denying the allegations against him. He then formally requested that the Deputy Speaker, Anna Burke, take the chair in his absence.[49]

Federal Court Justice Steven Rares dismissed the sexual harassment charges against Slipper in December 2012, saying that he had "reached the firm conclusion that Mr Ashby's predominant purpose for bringing these proceedings was to pursue a political attack against Mr Slipper and not to vindicate any legal claim he may have for which the right to bring proceedings exists."[50] However, in February 2014 Ashby successfully appealed against the decision to dismiss the case.[51] Ashby abandoned his lawsuit against Slipper in June 2014.

On 8 January 2013 the federal police summonsed Slipper alleging three offenses against section 135.1(5)/ Criminal Code Act 1995 (Cth) in relation to allegations concerning the use of Cabcharge vouchers. Slipper was due to answer these allegations in the ACT Magistrates Court on 15 February 2013. According to documents released by the court, Slipper was alleged to have used Cabcharge to pay for hire cars to visit a number of wineries in the Canberra region in January, April, and June 2010.[37]

On 28 July 2014, Slipper was found guilty of dishonestly using taxpayer funds to visit Canberra wineries for his own enjoyment.[52] On 24 September 2014, he was sentenced to 300 hours community service and ordered to reimburse taxpayers for the $954 total that was spent on the trips. Slipper appealed the sentence,[53] and the case was heard in December 2014. Justice John Burns reserved his decision until 26 February 2015, when he ruled the appeal be upheld and the conviction and sentence be set aside.[54][55][56]

Slipper announced his resignation in Parliament on 9 October 2012.[57] Earlier in the day a motion of no confidence was defeated by one vote (69/70).[58] However, key independent members Tony Windsor and Rob Oakeshott, despite voting against the earlier no confidence motion, later informed Slipper that they could not continue to support him as Speaker given the damning text messages.[59][60] Slipper later entered Parliament and, when announcing his resignation, said:[61]

I leave this position without rancour, with a great deal of sadness and, more importantly, with a great deal of regret because I believe that, given the controversy which has occurred in recent times, that it is in the interests of the Parliament that I should take the course of action that I have personally chosen to take.

He then moved to the crossbench as an independent member of the House.[62]

On 11 May 2013, he apparently joined the Palmer United Party, also known as the (revived) United Australia Party.[63] This situation was short-lived; just hours after announcing his membership had been accepted, the party released a statement on its website announcing members had decided to revoke Slipper's membership under clause D26 of the constitution of the party. Slipper, however, claimed that he had withdrawn his application for membership after finding out that the party had announced without his knowledge that he was joining.[64]

Slipper stood as an independent candidate in the Division of Fisher at the 2013 federal election, but his replacement as LNP candidate, Brough, won the seat resoundingly. Brough subsequently faced a Federal Police investigation in relation his role concerning the theft of the Speaker's diary and announced he would not contest the following election.