Party trips are fizzers for Bishop
doing laps at Tobruk Memorial Baths at The Strand.
He has come a long way since he almost died for his country in Afghanistan when an improvised explosive device detonated. He lost his right eye, lower right arm and two fingers but the adversity only steeled his resolve.
The incident still haunts him 10 years on. “I’ve had my ups and downs, as my partner can vouch. I still have nightmares,” he said.
But Mr Lyddiard said he drew strength from his fitness regime. “Fitness to me is a means to help me rehabilitate and it keeps me on a level playing field,” he said.
The 40- year- old hopes to represent Australia at the next Invictus Games in Sydney in 12 months.
“Then that will be it for me, I will do one more just to represent Australia on my own turf,” he said.
He plans to deliver motivational speeches to schoolchildren in Townsville to help them understand the adversity of life and the importance of taking on challenges.
“I want people to know that regardless of the difficulties of life, dreams and d goals are achievable.” FOREIGN Affairs Minister Julie Bishop charged taxpayers about $ 7000 for four trips to Adelaide that coincided with her sister’s birthday.
A News Corp Australia investigation has also found she splurged almost $ 73,000 on a three- day trip with a group of foreign diplomats in North Queensland this year. They wined and dined at an awardwinning beachfront restaurant and 112 people spent a day exploring the Great Barrier Reef from a $ 26,890 chartered boat.
The investigation has uncovered four occasions when Ms Bishop flew to Adelaide, where she was born, at the same time as her sister MaryLou’s February 12 birthday.
Ms Bishop has previously faced criticism for flying to Adelaide to celebrate her own birthday with her family.
She claimed a travel allowance to stay in Adelaide in 2010, 2011 and 2012, with expense records released yesterday showing she also visited the night before her sister’s birthday this year. Some backbench MPs splurged thousands of dollars on interstate trips that were not to Canberra.