Flags, faxes and interesting reading material are among the expenses items claimed by our federal politicians this year. Far-right Queensland MP George Christensen claimed expenses for more than a dozen books covering radical Islam, American politics and conservatism. Christensen bought seven books on Islam and ISIS: No, We Can’t: Radical Islam, Militant Secularism; What went wrong? The Clash Between Islam and Modernity in the Middle East; Rise of ISIS; While Europe Slept: How Racial Islam is Destroying the West from Within; The Crisis of Islam: Holy war and Unholy Terror; The Islamist Phoenix; The Rise of the Islamic State and the new Sunni Revolution. 

He also brushed up on his knowledge of conservatism and conservative politics, charging the taxpayer for How to be a Conservative (in case he forgot?); Blue Collar Conservatives; The Meaning of Conservatism and A Political Philosophy: Arguments for Conservatism. As if he didn’t have enough to read, Christensen also stocked up with American Dreams; The Way Forward: Renewing the American Idea; No Apology: Believe in America andThe Great Betrayal: How American Sovereignty and Social Justice are being Sacrificed.

Christensen also purchased one book relevant to Australia, and published by Connor Court, a small Ballarat-based press (which also published Cory Bernardi’s The Conservative Revolution). Written by ex-MP Gary Johns, The Charity Ball: How to Dance to the Donor’s Tune now graces Christensen’s bookshelves. Its website says “Too many charities in Australia do little or no charity work, too many receive most of their income from government, and too many lobby government for more. Gary Johns analyses the charity sector and concludes that a better informed donor is essential to drive better charity.” We’re lucky that Christensen is looking into the real rorts in Australia — charities.

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