MOSCOW (Sputnik) — On Monday, Ley temporarily stepped aside from her post when speculation surfaced that the government official took a taxpayer-funded trip to Australia’s Gold Coast, where she spent 795,000 Australian dollars (some $595,000) on a luxury apartment.
"Today I have made a personal decision to resign as Minister for Health, Aged Care, and Sport in the Turnbull government," Ley said in her official statement.
While Ley stated that although she remained "confident" in the fact that she had followed all the rules regarding entitlements and the ministerial code of conduct, she believed that the "team is always more important than the individual".
"While I have attempted at all times to be meticulous with rules and standards, I accept community annoyance, even anger, with politicians’ entitlements demands a response and I wholeheartedly support the reforms announced by the [government] earlier this week," Ley said in her statement.
My letter to the Prime Minister pic.twitter.com/InrnTc0Vod
— Sussan Ley (@sussanley) 13 января 2017 г.
On Friday, Australian Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull announced that the government would create a special body to oversee parliamentary expenses in an effort to ensure that taxpayer funds are spent appropriately.
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