Another year, another polly on the ropes over expense claims. Sussan Ley has been on the receiving end of a media pommeling and the collective wisdom is she’s been a naughty minister. She has been dispatched to Coventry and the view is she should settle down and grow accustomed to her new home.
As an observer of various entitlements farragoes over the years, I think Ms Leys’ spending puts her in exalted company, somewhere between Peter Slipper and the guv’nor, Labor’s Mal Colston. Spending $21,000 in a week or so on transport is extraordinary. I didn’t even think it was possible. With those frequent flyer miles, you can forget about the carrot sticks and chardy in the Qantas club. It’s foot-long lobster subs and Moët by the schooner. Hell, they’ll get you your own plane. Maybe even let you fly it.
The Minchin Protocol always sounded like a bad novel and now as it comes to its denouement, it is about as satisfying as an EH Holden Mechanics’ manual or anything knocked out by Clementine Ford.
Full column here.
“So, Malcolm not only got Tony’s job, it also included his budgie smugglers”. THE TOASTER
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Abbott is still the PM-he often says so in as many wordz…Turnbull has kept all of his policies and even made them harsher. Madness to commit political sewerage pipe.
So, Malcolm not only got Tony’s job, it also included his budgie smugglers.
But putting that to one side (left or right, whichever way they hang), plonking one’s mitt in the cookie jar is akin to the subject at hand. It’s quite a natural trait with Aussies. Politicians included. And we’re not only good at it, some even openly boast of their prowess in executing it. After all we’ve had over 200 years experience and tradition to fall back on.
Bet there’s not too many (including on here) who can put hand on heart and claim not to have had a nefarious nibble (however large or small).
“But it was only a little loaf of bread M’lud” wont wash.
Outed yourself! Moi, pure as the driven snow. Swear to God.
Bloody Catholics JB. We got brainwashed into confessing as kids and can’t toss the habit. There’s a pun in the last three words by the way Eddie!
That was cruel JTI! Naughty man. Even Tony looked better in the smugglers!!! But I enjoyed it – he must be furious!
The most amazing thing about all this is son is that pollies have seen their kind fall like chaff before the scythe.
Now any sensible rorter would have gone straight to skool on this and said to themselves “Hey heads are rolling. I had better be careful and look after my own”. For the cost of putting their hands in their own pockets for a few bob the fiscal thieves have in the long run possibly lost a few hundred grand more if you lose say a Ministerial gig…salary, super etc and other freebies.
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In my past life if I had to attend a conference or go anywhere in my capacity as principal I had to submit my claim BEFORE I went and have it approved up the chain. I also had to give a bloody good reason why I needed to leave my post. Payment? Had to wait a few weeks. Something like this should be hatched for those in the political trough and Nick X should get onto it with his ‘real time’ policy.
He will have a problem though…and it is (wait for it!)-bipartisanship. There is one area where bipartisanship thrives-money, perks, salary increases and allowances/entitlements. You never see them at each others’ throats over ‘entitlements’. Nick must shame them into it but that will be very difficult. If they keep getting caught at the present rate though something may crack.
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By the way, notice how quiet Useless Bill is down at the beach Bald? No comment from Billess.
Howard ‘The Fox’ in his 1st year of ‘retirement’ cost us over a million dollars. More than when he was bloody PM. Since then he has consistently been up there with the biggest spenders. Collectively ex-PM’s cost us half a million in the first 6 moths of last year! Howard headed the list at $106,767.03. Rudd was the next most expensive, with his costs totalling $83,000. Howard loved to fly. Because he lived in Sydney, his regular jet jaunt cost us $2.5million and that was in 2004 money. Hawke lived in Sydney too but cost us nothing like The Old Fox. They used to go on about Rudd but Howard killed him on travel. I still have all the figures. Here’s a taste.
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Alongside the Howard’s overseas travel, Rudd was just an amateur
Always enthusiastic, the travelling Howards were at their best in calendar 2002 when they racked up overseas visits costing a total $3,551,000, during which John and his Bride went to the US twice – for 10 days in January-February (cost: $1.15 million), that included stops in Singapore and Indonesia, and a week in June 2002 (cost: $467,480). They also visited Britain twice, in March and April (cost: $323,730).
Then in July that year they had their much-publicised epic trek through Europe – Germany, Greece, Italy, Belgium and France, for a fortnight. Those two weeks ended up costing $1,025,638, including $171,000 for four nights in the so-called royal suite of a Rome hotel, which included a $10,000 late check-out fee. Now a lot of this is approvable stuff but the perks are generous and they all should start paying their own way, the tightarses. Yep even into the cricket!
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It is great further down your column Jack where you start talking about ‘the pensioners’ and their Trial By Robot. Real Kafka stuff this. Seems to have taken over from ‘the grandchildren’ and rightly so! Newspoll? I don’t think they will dive 4 points. Remember…there is NO OPPOSITION. These blokes are hopeless. Imagine Abbott with the bit in his mouth if the roles were reversed. He wouldn’t go to bed. The 30 Newspolls in a row statement is up there with ‘children o/board’, ‘no child will live in poverty’, ‘there are no factions in the Liberal Party’, ‘I don’t know what she said but if she said it I agree with it’, ‘we will have a surplus in our first year and every year after that’, ‘no changes to pensions, taxes, blah blah blah’, ‘the pensioners have never had a better friend than us’…Hockey’s beauty! But wait. Malcolm will be gone well before the next election. Then we can start another Newspoll race to the death.
I know the answer is Corn Fritters.
Very depressing Bassy. You’ve almost managed to ruin my return to the new series of Vikings on SBS tonight.
Great escapism stuff. I’ve just rewatched from Series 1. Haven’t seen the news for ages. Have no desire to.
It’s quite nice really.
WE love youse all!!
Vikings! “Days of Our Lives” plus some violence with de rigueur blood sprays and to break the monotony lots of extended pauses in the dialogue meaningful looks and pouts and too little gratuitous shagging. I caught a bit of the shagging doing the dishes. Wasn’t bad actually.
Advice to producers, cut straight from the violence to the shagging and back again with maybe a guttural slightly menacing Nordic voiceover. “After the betel Shnokk shegged Nooky end Blok shegged Minky so thin it was on egen. Now we see Blok get disembowelled, watch zis , zis is good bit.”
Great stuff JB. Actually it sticks reasonably close to the historical facts and there is some amazing scenery.
Seems their lifestyle was pretty much as in the series – although I doubt the chicks were as gorgeous – not to mention the hair braiding!!
Don’t be so high and mighty. It’s way better than watching the nightly news, I can assure you…….
Having spent some time in Norway Yvonne, I would suggest that the chicks are for real.
Blokes too, Triv? 🙂
Didn’t notice really
Love the accent mon cher JB, alas I only lasted two episodes of season one hoping to see the elusive Norwegian Blue return to the fijords. It’s a stiff, it is a late parrot, bereft of life……bit like the show really.
You should have hung in Tracy! It gets compelling. Bloodthirsty lot they were. I enjoy the English and French history connection – which is portrayed reasonably accurately in the series.
Gave up watching it – from memory the main actor had wonderful biceps etc and those beautiful eyes but that was the it as far as acting ability was concerned.
The doco. before Vikings about real Vikings looks good.
Yes it is. Viking history is interesting.
Bassy,
Any chance of a link to where you got the figures from for each of Howard’s trips?
They are out there-find them:-HINT…2004. I pasted the body of the text into a Wordpad. I have had them all of those years.
Bassy,
My sincere apology. I thought you were talking about travel as a former PM, not whilst in office.
All Howard’s expenses were ‘within the rules’…my point is the rules are too generous.
Bassman, you bring up some excellent points there, Howard managed to outspend everyone, but still thinks he is Australia’s greatest statesman….ha.
But all of this pales in comparison to the dear PM of Malaysia who at last count has stolen over RM3 billion from the good people of Malaysia. And that’s the money they know about!
Just recently some public servants have been caught rorting the system and have been charged by the Malaysian Anti Corruption Commission and rightly so. Except that Najib has appeared in all the media outlets over the last couple of days delivering a speech admonishing these “fraudsters” and stating that these people should not be stealing the Malaysian people’s money.
Sorry? Is he serious? This has of course caused great hilarity among the Malaysians, but you know what, I don’t think it’s funny. Someone close to the investigations into Najib and his wife Rosmah told me recently that they have to move so, so slowly before they can be arrested because one false step means that they could get away with it all and never be charged.
How anyone can be so incredibly greedy amazes me, but billions of dollars versus thousands of dollars, it’s still obscene behavior in anybody’s language
Howard was a better statesman than any who have gone since.
With the rivers of revenue he had pouring in that wld not be very hard dear. I would have liked to see him operate in tough times. The Looters are great governing when times are tulips but in tough times the people always call on labor.
Money or Bassy he had a lot more gravitas then the rest combined.
True enough. Doesn’t mean he was any good at it though. I found him an excruciating embarrassment.
I actually thought that Turnbull would be statesmanlike. Maybe he still will, it’s not the foreign sorties that are his problem.
As I said in a previous comment on the last blog. The absolute lack of contrition and doubling down on “within entitlement guidelines” is what gives the worst optic and shows a complete lack of character across the board. (That along with the coalition government continued attack on the poor, the elderly, the sick, any non “christian” and anyone who dare want to be paid a fair rate.) That Minister Tudge comes out and says “people have not sought to defraud” makes it worse because that is what they all have done, deliberately pushed the envelope in the hope no one would notice. This Tudge is proving to be one of the most out of touch of all of them. On any issue I have seen him discuss he seems to be deaf to evidence. AH that that must be why he has risen to where he is within the cons ranks.
Tudge is not nearly as bad as someone who would make a joke out of another human beings suicide attempt!
Razor, give it a break. You really are obsessed, just move on. It was an unfortunate comment, but not as bad as some of the comments you and others have thrown Dismayed’s way. You have disparaged his family, the work he does, his (according to you ) his lack of courage, even his height.
There’s a lot of ugliness and bullying in this world and I for one don’t blame him for aggressively standing up for himself. A robust argument never hurt anyone and I have never seen Dismayed attack anyone personally until he is attacked himself . Vive la difference eh Razor?
I have read the latest correspondence between he and PLMO…a person I greatly respect and did not once see the type of nastiness you portray.
By all means disagree with him as I do at times, but stop throwing sh.t and contribute something positive to this blog.
Dr Penny. Thank you.
You surely can’t be serious! He has attacked many on this blog without any provocation. There are numerous examples. Many have tried to reach out to him and he just carries on like an idiot. He is without humour. In my world that, of all things, is unforgiveable. His comments on Hird were deplorable and he deserves to be smashed up on them.
Please don’t treat me like one of your students I do not need to agree with you to get a credit. Just because I do not, unlike many on here, crawl up your backside Penny you seem to have in recent times taken it upon yourself to have a crack. Well go your hardest sweetie!
PS.
Could you show me where I have said anything about anyone’s height on the blog, let alone Eddie’s. Some years ago a conversation was being held about health and weight and I mentioned my height and weight to demonstrate how the BMI was ludicrous. Eddie decided to make something of that.
Oh my. HAHAHA. You have proven Dr Penny’s point again (and the one I have noted many times here) I do not initiate, I respond. You are like most cons, a perennial victim. You are blind to your own actions and feel persecuted when a response comes from your actions. Again your imagination is running riot. You mentioned your height. Milton recently continued to enquire about my height after like you, imagining me a certain way. As I have said to others here You are Responsible for your Reaction and Responses, you are a bully and do not like it when people stand up for themselves, which further enrages you and leads you to as above overreact. If you do not understand something it does not make it humourless. It just shows you lack comprehension ability or ability to understand information that is new to you.
Oh, Your overreaction to my comment on Hird is your problem and shows you chose to interpret them in an offensive manner. That was Your choice unless my comments have some sort of Power over you???
Middle sentence of the middle paragraph is hilarious. Razor. Brilliant! But in reality I am sure Dr Penny was born with one, just like the rest of us.
You reap what you sow, Penny. Which may he the case with Dismayed. He is ardent in his political outlook quite obviously.
I agree some of the slanging matches here get a bit tedious to wade through if you feel inclined to. They can always be skipped. JTI has always been a promoter of the freedom of an opinion – unless things get totally out of control.
I was stunned when I had what I considered unsavoury personal slurs thrown at me by Dismayed for merely expressing a political opinion some while back and nearly left the blog. Perhaps I had not been around long enough to know that this was par for the course. I was reassured by our host to hang in. Things are better on that front nowadays with me.
Having an opinion that another may disagree with does not need to invoke personal abuse.
On the whole it’s a friendly mob who banter and don’t take one another too seriously. And that’s lovely.
Yvonne=Perennial victim. I do respond in kind I do not initiate. You and the dishonest one above are typical of the always persecuted cons. Note you again have been the first to start.
Dr Penny….for a Doctor she is…….apparently……would you think Eddie’s 10.02am comment to Dwight an example of what you were talking about?
“Your ongoing support of trump says all that needs to be said about you” Scathing stuff eh buttercup. Now apparently those without humour need bashing up in your world? Better get started on yourself. Oh my. HAHAHAHA. Puhleease.
spotto raz
Just on another point Penny dear. I have never disparaged Eddie’s work. I think his industry is brilliant! What I have said is he is a hypocrite for railing against climate change and fossil fuels yet he earns his quid from those same industries. Simple really…….
I agree, you are simple.
On the flip side Mr Obama goes out in style again showing he is a class above the incoming and anything we have.
Classless. “I was awesome, says Obama!”
You stick to supporting the bragger about sexual abuse, the racist bigot and already proven liar. Your ongoing support of trump says all that needs to be said about you. I agree though Obama tried to make a America a classless society that is only one reason why old white guys like you don’t like him.
You got the figures to back that statement up Dismayed – I think the disparity of wealth in the US increased dramatically under his tenure.
If you mean by “classless society” that, under him, a large percentage of the middle class cannot call them selves “middle any more” and hence there are fewer discrepancies in class – yep he succeeded.
Well lets start with unemployment from about 8% down to 4.6% or there is the halving of the deficit or helping 50 million Americans access health cover for the first time. Disparity in wealth the World over has increased or more correctly fewer people control ever more wealth. Your need to be the opposite and opposing view for the sake of it only highlights your incorrect views.
hero in his own lunch hour
That’s funny Dwight
I reckon Obama is a class act Dwight….
Keep the picture. Keep the picture. It is the true con in action.
What – for keeping himself fit and not being a big fat slug whose medical expenses exceed tax paid.
I take it that all MP’s from the opposition have magnificent torso’s then, Dismayed?
Sigh. You and your angry con mates cant help yourself can you. “It is the true con in action” because he is doing whatever needs to be done to be seen as an everyday guy, a man of the people rather than Mr Harbour side Mansion or whatever that angry con Peta called him. Are you telling me he does not have a pool or even his own little beachfront on the harbour he can paddle around in. You are always looking to pick a fight but as soon as I give you back something in kind you will pull out your victim placard. The cons con goes on and on.
You commented above that the pic of MT was ” the true con in action”. I merely questioned why you regards his body as being connected to his political beliefs. You really are something else Dismayed. As Jacksprat comments further down – when you’re in a corner you fling out insults.
What you are doing in fact is making yourself look like the victim
Frankly I couldn’t care less what you happen to think of me. I am not that insecure.
That would be a fairly exclusive swimming club where that pic was taken, Dismayed. You need to keep up with the Sydney social scene
JTI!
I can assure you my very efficient secretary attends to my expenses monthly and is a demon for accountability. To throw me in with Ley, Colston and crew is an absolute insult! Appoint your second Sir! As the insulted party I have the right to choose weapons. I suggest you pick your wet lettuce leaf with care.
The formalities must be observed! https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Code_duello
MBT’s troubles will get worse. I’ve been trying to get respectable journos onto a red hot bit of craziness. The work visas of Australians working in the US for big global corps have been cancelled without warning and for no reason. Apart, that is, from the forecast of Trump’s erratic decisions. (I’ve got more detail and it can be corroborated, but, the injured parties may divulge only under the strictest shield of anonymity as they do want to keep working, somewhere. I’m on Wickr if that’s any use. Email me.)
Oz-US relations will come under strain as the Trump canoe drifts up the creek. Right on cue, though, MBT announces a super-duper anti-terror agency. OK, more uniforms and fatter bureaucracy, but we’d be better off spooking under our own steam than relying on Trump’s goons to act in good faith, let alone inspire confidence in critical relationships.
That sounds scary HU?
I must’ve missed the new right on cue “super-duper anti-terror agency” announcement. Were there four flags or eight?
It’s all about the scary distraction factor with these Libs you see Huger.
Regards, Bella
You mention Senator Nick Xenophon in your full column Mr Insider and his ideas to make Pollies look half decent to the Aussie taxpayer and Nick in our opinion is a good steady pair of hands. While many are getting their jollies off over the likes of Pauline Hanson, who in our opinion makes no sense at all, Nick keeps us all feeling good that there is at least someone in Politics who just perhaps we can trust.
Must say HB. he does seem to be a rare rational one at the moment! He’ll take votes off Turnbull too.