New South Wales Liberal senator Hollie Hughes justified claiming a taxpayer-funded travel allowance for Melbourne Cup day by saying the alcohol company that gave her a spot in its marquee had employees in her home state, making her attendance parliamentary business.
Hughes billed taxpayers for a short trip to Melbourne in 2019, during which Victorian brewery Furphy, owned by alcohol giant Lion, treated her to an $800 spot in its Flemington marquee on Melbourne Cup day.