Envoy defends renovation bill

Peter Hollingworth, the Governor General of Australia at the centre of a child abuse scandal last year, has defended the spending of more than £130,000 of public funds on renovating his palatial lakeside home in Canberra.

Dr Hollingworth, the Queen's representative in Australia, also spent nearly £335,000 on travel during his first year in the post, more than double the amount of his predecessor, Sir William Deane. The bill was for cars, VIP aircraft, commercial flights and accommodation. The remodelling of the private quarters occupied by Dr Hollingworth and his wife at Government House involved rebuilding the bathroom, installing French windows by the sun terrace and removing pillars to enlarge the living room.

The apartment was refurnished with items that included a £2,190 rug, two armchairs that cost £2,470, a £605 marble-topped coffee table and nine table lamps totalling £1,680.

Dr Hollingworth's official secretary, Martin Bonsey, told a parliamentary finance committee that the quarters had not been altered for 12 years and had serious design problems. "Mrs Hollingworth almost had to shower in what equated to a spa bath," he said. Mr Bonsey said the extensive travel had been necessary because Dr Holl- ingworth was new to the job.

Dr Hollingworth was accused last year of turning a blind eye to child sexual abuse by priests and church school teachers when he was Anglican Archbishop of Brisbane.