LABOR MP Don Brown has accused federal MP Andrew Laming of using taxpayer funds to run a state election smear campaign to support his former employees, Matt McEachan and Cameron Leafe against other Labor candidates.
Mr Brown said he and Redlands MP Kim Richards were attacked by Mr Laming with election material that was false, petty and misleading.
The state election campaign in the Redlands was a brutal affair, with Mr McEachan fighting to hold the seat of Redlands after an electoral boundary shift and Mr Laming campaigning hard to support fellow LNP candidates.
Mr Brown said the federal government’s Independent Parliamentary Expenses Authority which publishes information on MP spending, showed a dramatic rise in Mr Laming’s outlays last year on printing and communication as the November election approached.
“His spending went from $30,000 in the April to June period to $84,000 in July-September and just under $80,000 in October to December,” Mr Brown said.
“This latest report comes in addition to the recent front page media coverage exposing Andrew Laming’s taxpayer-paid family flights.”
Mr Laming said he would ignore Mr Brown’s whining because politicians were elected to help, not squabble.
“If Mr Brown has a complaint about how hard his election was, snivelling to the newspaper isn’t going to fix it,” he said.
“If he built roads to Brisbane, repaired our dam, defended Straddie jobs and ended the Sycamore School lease rip-off, he wouldn’t have to worry about what other people do.”
Mr Laming said his output was policy-focussed and he was fighting for what locals wanted.
“I congratulated Mr Brown on a convincing win last year and have been busy working with state MPs since November.
“Mr Brown is clearly scarred by his election experience and can’t move on. That’s pretty sad,” he said.
Mr Laming said his annual printing allocation could be used at anytime in the 12 months.
Asked if it was appropriate that it be spent on party candidates in a state election, he said MPs could support candidates who worked in their offices years ago but not current employees.
Mr Brown said Redlanders deserved better than an MP who used taxes to fund a campaign designed to support LNP mates.
