PAT CONROY DEFENDS SPENDING TAXPAYER FUNDS

Labor MP Pat Conroy has defended spending almost $60,000 of taxpayer funds on letterbox drops, in his Hunter-based electorate of Charlton.

Mr Conroy says media reports criticising his expenditure are a “storm in a teacup”.

He’s said to have spent more than $57,000 on pamphlets in 2014, and $11,000 on Australian flags.

“I make no apology for communicating with my constituents about the budget, nor will I apologise for distributing Australia flags to groups such as RSLs”

Mr Conroy says, in both cases, the spending was approved by the Finance Department.

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