Coalition government minister Jamie Briggs has cautioned against a "hyperventilated state of scandal" over politicians' expenses after revelations Barnaby Joyce used taxpayers' money to attend rugby league matches.
Mr Joyce, now agriculture minister, says it was fine to spend more than $4600 of taxpayer-funded travel entitlements to attend three games in 2012 because he was invited as an official guest.
Mr Joyce was handed free tickets for the 2012 State of Origin and NRL finals in corporate boxes for Westpac Bank and the Australian Rugby League Commission.
He claimed $4615 from taxpayer money for flights, Comcars and overnight "travel allowance" associated with attending the football games, Fairfax media reported on Wednesday.
A spokeswoman for Mr Joyce says the invitations were because of his position on the opposition frontbench.
News that makes sense
Your trusted source for staying up-to-date with the world around you. Get free daily news updates and analysis, straight to your inbox.
"Such gatherings are viewed as opportunities for business and community leaders to meet and discuss policy issues with members of parliament," she said in a statement.
"At each instance, appropriate protocol was followed and the allowance was properly declared."
Mr Briggs said the State of Origin was a significant community event because "it is on the front page of most daily newspapers and there are significant business and community leaders who attend".
He said politicians' use of entitlements was always going to create public comment and everything politicians did was publicly funded because taxpayers covered their salaries.
"We have to be very careful here that we're not getting ourselves into a sort of hyperventilated state of scandal on what are quite legitimate decisions that MPs across the spectrum are making on what are community events," he told Sky News.
"Because the Sydney Morning Herald puts `scandal' in a headline doesn't necessarily make it so."
