Australia's Parliament is about to reconvene with a prominent officeholder gone. On August 2nd the speaker of the lower house, Bronwyn Bishop, resigned over revelations that she had spent taxpayers' money on helicopters, aircraft and limousines. "Choppergate" has roiled the conservative government and raised fresh questions about the judgment of Tony Abbott, the prime minister. Mr Abbott nominated Mrs Bishop for the speaker's job after he led the Liberal-National coalition to power in 2013. The two represent neighbouring constituencies in Sydney's rich northern suburbs and were allies from his Liberal Party's right wing. Mr Abbott once called himself the "ideological love-child" of Bronwyn Bishop and John Howard, a longserving former prime minister and perhaps Mr Abbott's most ardent champion.
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