Australian House of Representative Speaker resigns over travel expense scandal

Bronwyn Bishop, speaker of the House of Representatives of Australian Federal Parliament, resigned Sunday over the travel expenses scandal which has dragged on for weeks.

Prime Minister Tony Abbott first made the announcement at a press conference in Sydney.

"After a number of conversations with the Speaker, Bronwyn Bishop, over the last few weeks, today, Ms Bishop called me to let me know that she will be resigning to the Governor General from that particular position," Abbott said.

In a separate announcement later, Bishop said she had tendered her resignation to Governor General Peter Cosgrove effective immediately.

"I have not taken this decision lightly," she said.

"It is because of my love and respect for the institution of parliament and the Australian people that I have resigned as Speaker."

Bishop said she looked forward to continuing to serve voters in her electorate of Mackellar.

Bishop came under fire earlier this month when it was revealed that in 2014, she used taxpayer dollars to pay for a chartered helicopter flight to a private fundraising event.

The flight, which would normally take just one hour in a car, cost the Australian people 5,000 AU dollars (3,820 U.S dollars) while, this week, a second investigation revealed she also claimed travel expenses to attend a private wedding for a colleague back in 2006.

The Department of Finance is reviewing into 10 years' worth of Bishop's travel claims and the result is due "as soon as possible". Bishop had said she will repay every dollar that's overspent.

Bishop at first refused to apologize, only admitting "poor judgment" for the helicopter flight. However, she caved in on Thursday under mounting pressure from the opposition party and the general public and offered her apology on television.

"I feel I have let down the Australian people," she said. "I want to apologize to the Australian people for my error of judgement and to say sorry."

But she still wouldn't resign, saying she still had the prime minister's trust. Bishop was hand-picked by Abbott as speaker after the Liberal-National Coalition came into power in 2013.

Even announcing Bishop's resignation, Abbott refused to criticize his "friend and colleague", saying she is only a victim to the parliamentarians entitlement system.

Despite many regulations already, "there are still too many situations where Members of Parliament can do things which are inside entitlement but outside public expectations", Abbott said.

"So, it is very important that we have a system which is independent, which is accountable, which is transparent, and which is workable," he said.

Abbott announced that there will be "a fundamental review" into members of parliaments' entitlements.

Opposition Leader Bill Shorten said the resignation of Bishop, like her apology, was "overdue and unrepentant".

"Unfortunately the Prime Minister still won't accept that Mrs. Bishop has done anything wrong," Shorten said in a statement. " Abbott has blamed the system, but it was Bishop's addiction to privilege that was the real culprit." Enditem