Hanson and Joyce bill taxpayers for flights to private events on luxury cruise ship hosted by Rinehart

Pauline Hanson and Barnaby Joyce billed taxpayers more than $3,000 to attend fundraising and donor events on board the luxury cruise ship The World, hosted by the mining billionaire Gina Rinehart. Guardian Australia can reveal that in December last year Hanson and Joyce attended multiple private events on the world’s largest privately owned cruise ship, on which Australia’s richest person owns an exclusive multimillion-dollar apartment. Both politicians claimed taxpayer-funded travel to attend the events. Under rules for MPs, taxpayer-funded resources can only be claimed if the dominant purpose of the travel is for parliamentary business, which excludes fundraising events or soliciting donations. The One Nation leader and her daughter, Lee Hanson, also hosted business leaders for a private lunch on board the luxury ship when it was in port in Hobart on 2 January. Rinehart is not believed to have been in attendance for the Hobart event, and One Nation has refused to explain how Hanson and her daughter were able to gain access to the exclusive ship, which is restricted to its ultra-wealthy residents and their guests. Sign up for the Breaking News Australia email The World is described as the ultimate on-water luxury experience for its millionaire and billionaire owners, with the ship boasting the only full-sized tennis court at sea, a retractable marina, multiple high-end restaurants and a 15,000-bottle wine cellar. Residences are priced between A$4m and $21.5m. …