Bob Hawke famously observed that if you can’t govern yourselves, you can’t govern the country. Allow us to update this wise dictum: if you can’t control your own spending, you can’t control the country’s. Bronwyn Bishop did the right thing by standing aside, not for the self-evident reason that the government was being damaged by the daily headlines, but for the simple reason that the voters must have absolute faith that politicians are putting the national interest ahead of their own.

Technically, Ms Bishop’s use of helicopters, limos etc was within the rules – or at least until proven otherwise they were. The thinking which goes behind the abuse of such perks presumably runs something like this: ‘The work I am doing is of such critical importance to the governance of this nation that the extra costs involved will ultimately be a net positive’. As recent events have borne out, this is a judgment call best left to others, rather than to the individual themselves. But to whom? In the case of the departing Speaker, the call was made by a lynch-mob of hypocritical Labor politicians, salivating journalists and weary voters.

Needless to say, the private sector confronted and fixed this problem back at the tail end of the opulent 80s. As many an executive or even CEO can now attest, efforts to persuade Grinch-like CFO’s that some lavish, slap-up event you attended was all for the good of the company normally fail.

Which brings us to Tony Burke. This magazine has already deemed him unfit for high office based on his refusal to retract, clarify or apologise for remarks he made to a Friends of Palestine meeting that appeared to support terrorism in the West Bank and Gaza.

It was always a high risk strategy for Mr Burke to lead the attack on Ms Bishop, given his own embarrassments in the past to do with Eddie Obeid-funded holidays and the like. Until such time as a new expenses, sorry ‘entitlements’, regime is in place, the standard now is simple: Mr Burke must answer to the same unholy trio of hypocritical politicians, salivating journos (that’d be us, among others) and fed-up voters.

Mr Burke claims his entitlements were all within the rules. Which is precisely what Ms Bishop (still) claims. But it didn’t save her.

In order to help remind the electorate of the value for money Mr Burke offers, here’s a taste of his ‘within the rules’ expenses claims:

In the middle of the school holidays, he flew four family members to Ballina at a total cost to the taxpayer, including their use of Comcar, of $1,196.23. He also claimed Travel Allowance in Brisbane of $386 a night after they got there. According to his website, he didn’t make any speeches, or do any media during that time.

During another school holidays he flew four members of his family business class to Uluru at a cost to the taxpayer, including cars and allowance, of $12,780.74. No news reports of any official business and no media releases came from him during this period.

A taxpayer funded jaunt to Europe to help ‘save the planet’ came in at a total cost of $70,619.59.

Mr Burke has also displayed a fondness, as reported in the Daily Telegraph, for attending freebie rock concerts by the likes of Robbie Williams and Justin Bieber with travel assistance from the taxpayer. All expenses paid junkets to Monaco, New York and China have seen him hobnobbing with Neil Young and Richard Branson – again, presumably, to help the Aussie battler ‘save the planet’. Oh, and last year he lodged charter travel expenses of $31,373.10.

You be the judge as to whether or not the cash-strapped taxpayer has benefited. After all, you’re entitled to.