MP Robert’s parliament absence ‘not unusual’: Dutton

Tess Ikonomou | May 16, 2023

Opposition Leader Peter Dutton has defended retiring MP Stuart Robert for not turning up to parliament while raking in a taxpayer-funded salary. 

Mr Robert has said he intends to formally resign from his Queensland seat of Fadden in the next few weeks.

He did not travel to Canberra last week for the budget sittings.

Speaking in Bellmere, north of Brisbane, Mr Dutton said it wasn’t “unusual at all” and pointed to the resignations of former prime ministers Kevin Rudd and Julia Gillard.

“I just don’t think it’s a departure from any other approach since federation,” he told reporters on Tuesday. 

Mr Robert was first elected to parliament in 2007 and served on the coalition government frontbench since 2013.

Fadden is considered a safe seat for the LNP, having been retained by Mr Robert with a margin of 10.6 per cent at the 2022 election.

Two candidates have nominated for LNP preselection, including Gold Coast council planning chief Cameron Caldwell and former Queenslander of the Year Dr Dinesh Palipana.

Party nominations for the seat will close on Friday.