The fact that Ms King is spending far more than other parliamentary secretaries and senior ministers, even though she has a comparatively minor role in the government, raises a number of questions.

Perhaps she's taking a leaf out of Kevin Rudd's book?

Firstly, why does Ms King need to travel to the UK and Belgium and Moscow for conferences on healthy lifestyles and disease control?

If Ms King needs to research healthy lifestyles, perhaps she should consider investing in a trip to the YMCA or the Wendouree pool.

This would be a much cheaper option.

Its also strikes me that Ms King was happy to spend over $26,000 on a five-day conference in Germany on transport, when she has failed to deliver on a key election commitment from 2007.

I recall Ms King claiming that our highways were "the lifeblood" of our nation — if that's the case, why is the duplication of the Western Highway — which runs right through Ms King's electorate — still incomplete?

It would be good to see Ms King spending less time on aeroplanes and more time in her electorate.

Joe McCracken

Lake Wendouree