Bishop defends claiming India wedding cost October 11, 2013 - 9:32AM Senior coalition government minister Julie Bishop argues there's a "very grey area" between work and play for travel expense claims as she defended charging taxpayers to attend a wedding in India. Ms Bishop claimed $3445 to return from the lavish wedding in Hyderabad in 2011, but says she sought and received prior approval. Coalition colleagues Barnaby Joyce and Teresa Gambaro also attended after being invited by mining magnate Gina Rinehart, and collectively the three claimed more than $12,000 in overseas study allowances. The revelation sparked fierce debate about the validity of political entitlements in which a number of government and Labor MPs - including Prime Minister Tony Abbott - were quizzed about their past claims. But Ms Bishop defended her actions, saying most of the time politicians were invited to events it was in their role as parliamentarians. "I believe that there is a very grey area between what is official business and what is an event that could be characterised in another way," she told ABC radio on Friday. If someone wanted to characterise it (as a social event) because I knew the people, for example, well is that a social event? The wedding, attended by 10,000 people, was more like a "high-powered gathering" of significant Indian business and political leaders and could hardly be described as a social event, she said. There was no need to change the rules around parliamentary entitlements, but the question of disclosure remained paramount, Ms Bishop said. Disclose it and be transparent about it.