BRONWYN Bishop's most significant achievement during her tenure as House of Representatives Speaker could be inadvertently forcing a complete overhaul of the travel entitlements system for federal politicians and their staff.
The way in which Mrs Bishop dragged out her inevitable departure from the Speaker's chair and damaged the Government's public standing gave rise to jokes about the veteran Liberal politician being a Labor "sleeper agent".
However, her predilection for travelling by taxpayer-funded helicopter has led to renewed attention to the travel habits of politicians from all parties. 
Labor's Tony Burke is under scrutiny for billing taxpayers to fly his family business class to Uluru while he was on official business there.
Education Minister Christopher Pyne has warned against MPs engaging in a "Salem witch trial" about expense claims. Mr Pyne is right to point out the dangers of the major parties engaging in a tit-for-tat battle when Parliament resumes next week.
The travel rorts affair in the early months of the Howard government in 1997 saw several ministers forced to resign.
The rush by both sides of politics to find examples of each other's misuse of travel expenses ended when a Labor senator attempted to take his own life.
A truce was called, some changes were made to the entitlements system and things largely went back to normal until the next scandal erupted.
The pattern has continued ever since: scandal, minor changes to the system, business as usual. That shouldn't be what happens this time.
Clearer rules, more public transparency and independent oversight of the travel entitlements system are needed.
No more travel allowance, free flights or chauffeured Commonwealth cars for travel to concerts or colleagues' weddings. Politicians deciding for themselves what is legitimate parliamentary or electorate business is a big part of the problem.
An independent authority should be able to rule in advance on what is OK, and what's not. Charter flights are important for MPs representing vast rural electorates who need to travel long distances to meet constituents.
Metropolitan MPs though shouldn't be chartering aircraft because they are too lazy to take regular services or undertake part of a trip by road.
New rules on politicians attending party fundraisers while travelling on official business need to be agreed upon. It's important that travel rules don't become so restrictive that politicians can't do their jobs effectively.
Once upon a time, MPs were paid token salaries, making politics essentially an expensive hobby for the rich.
Clive Palmer chooses to fly to Canberra by private jet at his own expense but most other MPs and senators can't afford to do that. In the modern era, politicians are paid generous salaries set by an independent tribunal and given access to taxpayer-funded travel.
Liberal MP for Grey Rowan Ramsey recently made a privately funded trip to France and Germany to look at submarine manufacturing. It would have been reasonable for taxpayers to meet at least part of the cost of the trip.
When in Opposition, senior MPs have to seek private donations to fund legitimate overseas trips where they meet with important foreign politicians and business leaders.
The alternative prime minster, treasurer and foreign minister should be able to undertake these sorts of visits and (regardless of which party is in opposition) taxpayers should foot the bill.Instead of working to protect their entitlements, Australia's political parties need to usher in reform to travel rules the public demands.