政坛地震，正副议长在耻辱中双双请辞

週六政坛大地震，工党于维州议会的议长和副议长， 因滥用特别津贴案爆发而双双在耻辱中请辞下台。

议长是州政府为了主持下议院的会议而任命之人，用于确保下议院议员皆能遵守规则，其中也包括特别津贴申请及设施使用等规定。

如今议长和副议长皆被爆出长期违规使用特别津贴，该津贴只限居住郊区的议员，由于偏远郊区交通不便，因此政府提供墨尔本第二住所津贴给予方便。

然则正副议长皆非维州郊区议员，却长年违法使用津贴，案发后双双请辞。

议会爆发这类丑闻已非初次，不久前部长级议员 Steve Herbert 也因使用公家车辆运送他的宠物狗往返位于郊区的度假屋而被迫辞职。

直至今天，还有工党议员因滥用工职津贴支付竞选活动人员的案子而接受调查中。

英文版/ English version

Labor’s Speaker and Deputy Speaker resign in disgrace

On Saturday, the Labor Party’s Speaker and Deputy Speaker in the Victorian Parliament were forced to resign in disgrace, after being caught out mis-using claims for special allowances.

The Speaker is the person chosen by the government to chair meetings of the Legislative Assembly (lower house) of the Parliament, and to make sure that all lower house MPs obey the rules about how they use allowances and facilities provided by the Parliament.

Both the Speaker and the Deputy Speaker resigned after being caught out claiming an allowance intended for country MPs who keep a flat or other second residence for when they need to stay in Melbourne. The Speaker and the Deputy Speaker both claimed their main home was in country Victoria, even though they represent electorates in Melbourne.

This latest scandal follows Minister Steve Herbert being forced to resign for using his Minister’s car to chauffeur his dogs to his country holiday home. As well, Labor MPs are still being investigated for misusing their staff allowances to pay for Labor Party election campaign workers.