"Toner-Gate" Australian MP's ruthless $300,000 spend

Its been labelled "Toner-Gate" and according to documents recently obtained through the Freedom of Information, Liberal MP's went on a three week spree spending nearly AUS$300,000 on office supplies in the run up to the Federal Election.

MP's were told in September that a strict cap on office consumables such as printer toner and paper was to come into force on the 1st October 2009, sparking the splurge. Previously federal MP's and Senators could spend unlimited amounts on office supplies.

The huge orders of toner cartridges sparked interest from the Finance Department and Joe Ludwig Special Minister of State,  warning of "uncharacteristically large orders for office requisites in the lead up to the introduction of the yearly cap".

This comes to light at a time when many of our own MP's are coming under fire and facing the consequences of expenses scandals with details of expenses claims since the general election being published online.