Dumped Liberal minister Stuart Robert will contest the Gold Coast seat of Fadden at the next federal election.
Mr Robert quit the Turnbull government front bench after it was found he'd breached ministerial standards on a 2014 trip to China.
He has since come under fire after Department of Finance documents were released showing Mr Robert claimed taxpayer funds to travel to the opening of a north Queensland goldmine in which he and his family had bought shares.
The documents show Mr Robert claimed for return flights from Brisbane to Townsville on April 10, 2013, the day he visited the $200 million Mt Carlton mine of gold producer Evolution Mining.
Mr Robert charged $1091 for the flights from Brisbane to Townsville and return to Brisbane and chalked up Comcar limousine charges of $205 and a further $376 travel allowance for a night in Brisbane before inspecting his private investment.
At the time he was opposition spokesman for defence, science, technology and personnel, with no official role related to the mine, in which he had bought shares the previous year.
The MP has written to the Finance Department offering to voluntarily pay back the Townsville trip money, plus a penalty.
Mr Robert had close ties with Paul Marks, one of Evolution Mining's directors at the time, who had more than six million shares in the company and is a Liberal party donor.
His controversial trip to China also involved Mr Marks.
In an interview with the Gold Coast Bulletin, Mr Robert said he was far from finished as a politician.
He said he had no knowledge he owned shares in the goldmine and blamed an unnamed trustee for the error.
"What I said to the parliament, that I believe I acted appropriately, was true - I wasn't aware of the share issue at all, it was the trustee," Mr Robert told the Bulletin.
"However, I do understand and I do appreciate that merely turning up to an event like that was probably an error of judgment."
Mr Robert denied the information about the two trips had been leaked to the media by supporters of former prime minister Tony Abbott.
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