Peter Slipper Cabcharge case: Former speaker loses third bid to have dishonesty charges thrown out (ABC)

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Former federal parliamentary speaker Peter Slipper must face dishonesty charges after an application to have his case thrown out was dismissed by the ACT Magistrates Court.

A hearing began this week into charges that Slipper misused his parliamentary Cabcharge allowance on three occasions in 2010 before he was appointed speaker.

Yesterday, his lawyer asked the court to throw out the hearing and find there was no case to answer.

It was the third attempt to get the charges against Slipper thrown out.

Slipper's lawyer Kylie Weston Sheuber told the court the prosecution failed to prove that her client was not on parliamentary business because there was no legal definition of the term.

But prosecutor Lionel Robberds told the court the trips were clearly not parliamentary business and Slipper had filled in multiple travel vouchers in a bid to hide the fact.

The taxi driver also told the court Slipper asked for four vouchers, telling him it was easier to process that way.

On Monday, Slipper admitted using taxi vouchers to visit wineries around Canberra but denied doing so dishonestly.

Slipper's lawyers have previously tried to have the case thrown out on two seperate occasions.

The latest challenge, based on mental health concerns, was thrown out in June.

Slipper wanted the court to set aside the charges because he was suffering a major depressive disorder, which was made worse by the case.

The court previously heard he had been hospitalised several times and had been having suicidal thoughts.

Slipper lost the Queensland seat of Fisher in the 2013 election when he ran as an independent, after splitting with Coalition colleagues when he accepted Labor's offer to be Speaker in the House of Representatives.

He had held the seat on and off since 1984, first for the National Party and later for the LNP.

Slipper resigned as speaker in October 2012 amid a sexual harassment claim brought by his former staffer James Ashby.

Mr Ashby recently abandoned his claim against Slipper after a two-year court battle.

http://au.news.yahoo.com/a/-/latest/24539417/peter-slipper-cabcharge-case-former-speaker-loses-third-bid-to-have-dishonesty-charges-thrown-out/