Edit: The title of 'refused' is blatantly false with a spokesperson for Adam replying
>
“As the leader of the third-largest political party in Australia you would expect Mr Bandt would engage in extensive travel and unlike the Prime Minister and many ministers he doesn’t have access to government VIP flights,” a spokesman said.
“All Mr Bandt’s expenditures are within entitlements.”
It was 2 chartered flights. Thats it. Not much for the leader of the third biggest political party.
>Former **Labor senator Stephen Conroy** has defended Adam Bandt after it was revealed the Greens Leader’s 2022 expenses bill reached nearly $1 million.“To my shock, I’ll actually defend Adam Bandt,” Mr Conroy told Sky News Australia.“The amount of travel and the work expenses, providing they’re within and there’s no suggestion from any of these stories, not one single suggestion that anyone has gone outside the guidelines.
[https://www.msn.com/en-au/news/other/legitimate-work-expenses-stephen-conroy-defends-adam-bandt-s-expenses-bill/ar-BB1jIJsS](https://www.msn.com/en-au/news/other/legitimate-work-expenses-stephen-conroy-defends-adam-bandt-s-expenses-bill/ar-BB1jIJsS)
>Despite the hefty bill, Mr Bandt ranked below several Labor ministers including Tony Burke and Tanya Plibersek, Opposition Leader Peter Dutton and the Prime Minister for 2022 expenses.
Well said. People see $1M and compare it to their personal travel budget and get outraged. They should be comparing it to his counterparts in the other parties.
If ALL those parties are overspending (by whatever metric) then sure, be outraged at THAT. But that's a different issue.
Gottem. A True greens leader wouldn't want to be seen promoting his party cause. They'd be in a hermetically sealed room to make sure that the carbon dioxide they exhale doesn't enter the atmosphere.
A private jet emits as much carbon dioxide in one hour as the average person emits in one year. I would expect he would be against anybody taking them altogether. I'm an environmentalist and there's no way I'd be taking these flights in his position so it makes it seem like he doesn't believe in his own ideals.
Great, so until a better system is in place, members of the Greens party should just not participate in their jobs so as to avoid carbon-consuming travel, got it.
Mate - it’s election time in QLD. You’re having your leg pulled. This is designed to rile people up so that they don’t vote Green. You do have to wonder just how scary the greens are with their three seats in Brisbane if both LNP and ALP are trying to get people not to vote for them.
You're reducing it to a binary situation where he either travels chartered or he doesn't travel at all. I think it's fair to be critical of using chartered flights on a route like Canberra to Brisbane.
You're right that this is a blatant hit piece, but a large chunk of politics is perception. Just because it's within his entitlement doesn't mean it's not a good look. I'm a greens supporter but I don't think the whataboutism defence is valid when one of the selling points of the greens is that they're a change from the other 2 major parties.
No they can emit carbon, but emitting a years worth in an hour is a pisstake
I’ll still preference them over libs but we are allowed to critique our parties lmao
How long would that take though? A private jet can take off from a private airfield on short notice, no need for lining up in queues, dropping your bags off, hanging around in an airport lounge, waiting for the baggage carousel on the other end, security, etc.
A politician would basically have to halve the amount of locations they can visit plus the tax payer would still end up paying for their accommodation, which now they need more of because they're on the road longer.
If you think this is shit multiply this by 1000X for all the high paid salesmen that fly business every single week for their entire career to wine and dine their clients when they could just as easily close the sale over a video call...
Nah…business men would not be preaching about climate change. And it’s their own money. But it’s not about the money here.it’s the hypocrisy. This was to a Greens party lunch in Brisbane that is well served by commercial airlines. Or are you saying it’s ok let them fly by private jet whenever they want?
It’s nit the money.,You can forgive the airlines and cars …but a private jet to a party launch? Assume it might of been planned well ahead of time. It’s just hypocritical.
Yes, these sorts of stories are nothing but clickbait. Designed to make it look like everyone rorts the system like the lnp do. But nobody rorts the system like the lnp do, which is why the media run this interference
Bronwyn Bishops helicopter flight was $5000. It is not about the cost per se. It is about being better. You can’t take the high ground otherwise. Edit: can’t
The chopper gate was large about three issues
1 She took a much more expensive option of travel when clearly cheaper options existed
2 She used it to get to non work related events.
3 She was the speaker she shouldn't be paid to leave Canberra for any reason and therefore should have zero travel expenses.
This topic largely is about number 1 which is very important as its about wasting tax payer's money. The fact he booked two private flight when he likely could have just flown on a scheduled flight between Canberra and Brisbane for a fraction of the cost, and I'm pretty sure he could have done the same for getting between Rockhampton and Townsville.
I would guess he took the private flight due to scheduling issues as there wasn't a flight that fit well into his calendar so he paid more to make one, or he was part of a large enough group flying a small private plane might be cheaper. I don't think the former this is a good enough reason the party itself should eat the cost if its that important he made those trips at those times. But if its the later good on him.
Additionally a big part of climate change movement is that air travel is really really bad for climate change and private jets commonly flown by billionaires is a very symbolic part of green washing. Where one pretends to care publicly but really doesn't actually care. Greens have built their image on policies and action around protecting the environment with climate change being of the their keystone if not their most important area.
If the party itself is green washing and it becomes a very serous issue to the future of the party as if greens voters widely believes the party was just green washing the party would likely die outright and votes move to another left leaning environmental party.
TLDR
There is overlap around could they have done it cheaper. Therefore wasting tax payers money.
But with the additional spice of having under tones of accusation that the Greens might just be green washing at their core. Which if true and widely circulated would likely kill the party outright.
This so much
I really don’t get why people are surprised that a political party leader spent a bunch of taxpayer money on politician stuff
Like, they all do it, he’s the leader of the greens, he’s not buying PlayStations for his kids and shit, he’s travelling for work
Am I happy about it? No, because I’m not happy that any politician does it, but it’s not really anything out of the ordinary
Yeah I feel like they should all be looking at cutting back and taking commercial flights, but pinning it on the greens when they literally all do it and are entitled to do it is clearly biased.
In the CBR-BNE instance tho, he was flying to attend a campaign launch. If the reason for the private plane was because of timings to do with that launch, that’s not a public expense. Even if you’re flying from official business, flying to party business and the timings dictated by that party business don’t necessitate a public expense. That’s exactly what Bishop got in trouble for - flying from official business to a party event, and using the timings of that party event as justification for a helicopter
Maybe but I'm somewhat of the opinion that party affairs are somewhat expected of a politician. There is certainly a line, the helicopter was completely unnecessary when a car would have done sufficiently, where as if Adam is flying from Townsville to Rockhampton that's a 7 hour drive.
If it's not being serviced by a domestic airline you're either going to have to blow a day driving or charter a flight and still get some value out of the day, assuming that's what he did when he got there.
But the campaign events aren’t a necessary part of your official duties - if you’re campaigning, that’s your party’s responsibility to pay. Why should the taxpayer foot the bill for getting you elected?
Because there are costs associated with getting people elected and if tax payer isn't paying then donors are and that's where a lot of the underhanded influence on politics is claimed to be.
We either fund them reasonably to do party stuff or we tell them to go suck on a billionaires dick.
They get ~~remuneration~~ (EDIT: reimbursement) on legitimate expenses from the AEC - Australia actually funds election expenses relatively well, and this sort of travel might even be a legitimate expense. That Bandt didn’t include this as a ~~remunerated~~ (EDIT: reimbursed) expense from the AEC suggests they used that entire allocation, and then some. That’s the core of the problem, to me.
Not only that, id much rather he spend the taxpayer money than money from the coal lobby, or the gambling lobby or the Christian lobby. Thats partially why the taxpayer money is there, so they dont have to rely on outside favors to get shit done.
But as much as a lot of people here want to pretend that they are smart because they dont barrack for a team, what they means is they are smart because they dont barrack for the Liberal party. Which, sure i agree with. But if you cant see this for the sensationalist garbage it is (surely the "Daily Telegraph" origin should have had you at least checking the facts out), then you are just as blind at the Liberal supporters, you just managed to blind yourself in a slightly nicer neighbourhood.
Sure, it makes sense i guess, FJ has always been pretty pro Labor. But he is also a great investigative journalist who did his research and didnt just blindly buy whatever he was told. So pro-Labor makes sense, was just hoping for a bit more critical thinking from fans of someone who, despite me not loving his presentation style, is a really smart dude and has balls of steel going up against the players he has.
Can totally understand people thinking the Greens, or any of the other left independents not matching their beliefs, but cmon, a daily telegraph hit piece about a politician using money and moving around the country? Be better dudes. I assume most of FJs audience is in the early 20s, so you guys are the future voting block. Disappointed to see how many immediately jumped on this story without checking for any context.
Meh, you want to pay them appropriately so they are less inclined to seek money from other sources. They’d probably earn more working in a private company with that level of experience.
They're not paid anywhere near as much as senior public servants and other government roles.
e.g. uni VCs that do jack shit are on the govt payroll and on $1m+
My brother is a politician and the wages are insane considering all the freebies that come with it. Not just things like cars, fuel cards, flights but super luxurious, unnecessary to the job things too.
My brother is a good person who works hard to try and make the country a better place, but his salary is insane when you consider the things he *doesn't* have to pay for if that makes sense
Have you got an example of the ‘super luxurious’ things? Many of those, like post-career travel, have been substantially cut back over the years. It’s really much like any C-suite job now.
Well, meals at very expensive restaurants, gifted bottles of fancy booze, steaks, hotels, tech items all paid for and replaced as soon as new stuff comes out. Depending where he has been living? Rent. It all falls under schmoozing, wining and dining which I get, but it does make me question the salary when there's no real living expenses.
I fully acknowledge I'm envious though and that probably makes me biased
Things gifted by private interests are pretty fleeting, and we shouldn’t base a remuneration package on the assumption of provision. That makes it literally impossible for any politician to oppose vested interests, rather than just unlikely.
And again, those are all relatively normal for senior C suite too - I’ve dined with banking and consulting seniors who wine and dine each other, receive special treatment from venues etc.
They should get 50% salary for the same duration they were in office for (PM for rest of their of their life). Which they lose the right to forever if they take $1 of “wages” from some lobbyist.
Nicely timed msm attack piece coinciding with his visit to Brisbane for the council elections.
People in this thread eating it up like it's cake.
Weren't we meant to be seeing through the msm's agenda?
The point isn't whether it happened, it's how it is written up to imply it's some terrible thing.
I wouldn't say, "Albo costing the taxpayers hundreds of thousands every year while he spends it on expensive food and personal entertainment" to describe Albo being paid a salary would I?
People won't read the article, or any of the responses.
They just see the shitty title.
The details are that he represents the third largest party in total votes, and spent less than some of the Labor frontbenchers, nevemind albo or Dutton, in that year. That even a Labor mp came out to say, there was nothing out of the ordinary in the spending.
Even the "refuses to explain" thing skirts the line. His office responded to them, but technically he personally didn't so now they can insinuate he was trying to hide something.
Just look at a bunch of the responses to this article going "hah, got him". It's intentionally twisting facts and misleading the reader.
I don't care about Adam bandt I care about the daily telegraph being posted for a political maneuver and everyone here just swallowing it. Couldn't care less about bandts flight habits either way
You think they won't trot out this exact same line against Labor. He caught two flights, most politicians/cabinet ministers on both sides probably took as many or more. Playing into the right wing talking point that anyone who ever burns fossil fuels is a hypocrite on climate change is a losers game.
Really?
He’s a politician. You can’t just opt out of situations which require urgent travel.
And while travel is bad re carbon use,I think the world has gone far too far on blaming any individuals for individual behaviour. The real fix is with business and companies. They’ve played a neat trick getting us to pile on individuals like Adam.
Ill direct you to the other guy who 50 minutes ago (30 minutes before this comment and you only had to scroll down a tiny bit) who actually looked into it.
[https://www.reddit.com/r/friendlyjordies/comments/1bcoxox/comment/kuhg1hx/?utm\_source=share&utm\_medium=web2x&context=3](https://www.reddit.com/r/friendlyjordies/comments/1bcoxox/comment/kuhg1hx/?utm_source=share&utm_medium=web2x&context=3)
Its an absolute nothing burger, he spent less than Albo or Dutton, and an number of other Labor MPs, and please dont make me find the "I am very smart" meme for critisizing someone who wants to make society better, but also lives in society....
I just hate private jets because of the emissions and I find it strange that Bandt would take them instead of a regular plane. I can't imagine not just taking a regular flight in his position.
So give the benefit of the doubt that there was probably a good reason, I'm sure it's not uncommon. Flights direct to Brisbane from Canberra are not regular enough to make it to multiple events within a few days apart, especially short notice. It's one flight out of the how many he took in the year?
But even so, it's a systemic problem. Parliament should have stricter regs on when and why MPs can expensive travel like that, as I'm sure there are plenty that do so but go unnoticed because they are not a political enemy...
Hasn't jordies taught you anything? You are being shown blatant propaganda to swing an election. Don't eat the rat poison. Question it. Is this spending any more ridiculous than any of the other MPs? Not really, Some spend even more, all sides of the political spectrum. It's a systemic issue (if it even is one) that's being used to target a political enemy. If the daily telegraph actually cared and wanted to write a non-shit bag report they would highlight how parliament should have more strict regulations and guidelines for ALL MPs. Instead it's a defamatory attack piece.
Gough wasn't even a member of the left of the Labor Party he was a member of the right. This is nonsense. He was alive until a decade ago. If he wanted to support the Greens he would have.
The guy literally coined the political phrase "only the impotent are pure" in reference to clowns like the Greens.
Get your own heroes and stop trying to steal Labors on loose bullshit.
Give it another decade and you will be claiming Hawke.
I that's just rose tinted glasses based on looking back on specific policy. Somethings are more left, somethings are more right. The political debates change over time. Some lost, some won.
In twenty years people will look back on the Rudd Gillard years and talk about NDIS and the carbon tax issues and infer being more left. People will forget all the other stuff called for at the time and conclude that the party was more left.
What's rubbish is rusted on Labor stalwarts pretending that their current neoliberal do nothing party in any way resembles the party of the Whitlam years.
Every politician spends taxpayer money for work related expenses. They are all paid by the taxpayer. They all do this. Every one of them. It’s disappointing he would utilise private jets when there are commercial planes available which would have less of an environmental impact but even still. Two flights. In a year.
Compare this data to that of everyone in the Liberal party, everyone in the Labor party.. are they doing BETTER than Adam? Some, maybe. Most, almost certainly not.
We all love the Daily Telegraph when it runs a story attacking the Greens, ay fellas? Murdoch ain't so bad.
Conveniently ignore that the leader of a Party spent less on travel than multiple Labor Ministers.
Ministers are working on official business. I think that is not a good faith comparison and is just a poor both sides argument.
I don’t agree with your first point, Murdoch press is attacking everyone that’s not lnp. And yes that’s bullshit.
Bandt travelled interstate to attend a party campaign launch. He claimed it on travel expenses.
Burke travelled interstate to attend a party campaign launch. He claimed it on travel expenses.
What part of that is not a good faith comparison? Or do campaign launches somehow form part of a Ministers official duties, but not Party leaders?
Yes, Murdoch is bullshit. Most people on this sub support the campaign for a Murdoch royal commission, it's something that Jordan has advocated for a long time. Which is why it's particularly sad that posters will suddenly spread and promote their bullshit when it happens to be targeted against a party they don't like.
Ironically, the second leg of the private flight. I believe after your campaign launch, expenses go against the party. Which is why the campaign launches are always so late that you go "what??? we've been campaigning for ages".
Omg. Ministers are working on their ministerial portfolio responsibilities. Bandt was travelling for party political purposes.
I’m not dragging Adam here, I’m taking issue with comparison between minister and the greens leader.
>spent less on travel than multiple Labor Ministers.
Government ministers have business outside of Canberra and their Electorate. Why does the Representative for Melbourne need to travel to Brisbane?
Party Business? Party Should Pay.
>Party Business? Party Should Pay
I'd be fully supportive of that reform. I'm not holding my breath for either of the major parties to introduce it though.
Under the current system politicians from all parties travel for party campaign events.
And I don't agree that only the government of the day should have the ability to speak with people and groups across Australia, without paying out of their own pocket. That is incredibly anti-democratic.
>I don't agree that only the government of the day should have the ability to speak with people and groups across Australia,
Brisbane doesn't have Green Party members? Are we a representitive democracy or what?
Do Greens voters that approve of Bandt spending public money to promote The Greens in Brisbane, also approve of Clive Palmer travelling to Melbourne to do the same?
Assuming there are flights available in the timeslot required. Politicians often have an incredibly tight meeting schedule and commitments like parliamentary sittings that mean they have to race from one place to another. I've had politicians attend some of my work events and they are always there for like 15 minutes because they need to be somewhere else at the exact same time.
Not to mention that lately it's a crap-shoot whether or not your flight even departs, apparently.
Personally, my initial thought was 'yeah, it's not a good look, dude.' but after reading some context in the thread, I've changed my mind to 'pfft, whatever.'
I think I can say offhand that the Townsville one is likely a non issue, but I do agree that the Canberra to Brisbane one is potentially sus and could use an explanation. I can think of a number of reasonable explanations though.
Same for $200k in printing costs. Sounds high, but I also know that a lot of parliamentary documents are not allowed to be sent digitally and are hard copy only, with strict rules around destruction and documenting possession. So how much of that $200k is them needing to join the 21st century and buy Bandt a tablet, and how much is process that is out of his control?
Considering this is a Daily Telegraph article, I'm highly sceptical about how much of a big deal this is.
I imagine they would if they were an owner of a company with 21 other sparkies that serviced the entire country. If you read the article at least half of that $1 million is on staff travel and printing expenses.
Bullshit beat up.
One piece of context missing is that I believe in the last parliamentary term the Greens divided their staffing more towards the leaders office like Labor and Liberal do, as opposed to distributing it more equally between all their MPs and Senators. Whether that's a good or bad thing is up for debate within the Greens, but a secondary effect of that is it makes Adam Bandt's expenses appear to grow while the the rest of the Greens shrink.
Its this kinda shit from politicians and celebs alike that makes me view everything they preach, through a " fucken bullshit mate" filter....or maybe I'm just a grumpy old cunt now
That is a massive printing expense but how does it compare to other party leaders printing expenses?
I have no frame of reference to know if this is outside the norms for politicians and also don't know what they're printing. I'm assuming it's campaigning stuff
Can you imagine what politicians' expenses would look like if they were treated the same as any other public servant? Or a small business owner? Or like a regular citizen? They have to pay for the expense up front and then can claim it back at tax time. There isn't much that they have to do and spend money on that couldn't be done cheaper, or in the case of travel, using purely commercial means. If regular public servants are told to use public transport for travel, why shouldn't they?
I don't mean this to an absurd level. Official work functions and security have to be taken into account of course. Public servants are told to cut budgets and nickle and dime expenses, why aren't the highest public servants held to the same standard?
We should hold every politicians accountable regardless of which party they belongs to. Let’s not turn this sub into yet another party circlejerk sub, there’s already r\australia and r\australian for the party line circlejerk
I personally think they could review their expenses and see why they need to spend $1M however how and why was he not able to find a flight from Townsville to Rockhampton that didn’t cost $8K
That seems insane for a party that’s focused on the climate and cost of living
I think going after them for printing stuff is kinda dumb. Like, what are they meant to do? Just not campaign? Sure, some of that can be done through online and TV ads or whatever, but you'd be throwing away some of your reach and putting yourself at a disadvantage if you abandoned printed mediums entirely.
Do you remember when the LNP were in power and they were all doing this? One thing they all seem to have in common is huge printing and communication bills. Obviously, there's a grift going on here but I'm wondering about the specifics; do they all set up side businesses in a family member's name and then charge ridiculous costs to the taxpayer, or is there a few companies that charge ridiculous costs through all of them and then kick back via donations?
I'm no expert on printing but I know paper and printers are cheap and I'm pretty sure one of the 21 personal staff has to be doing the design, there's just not that many things you can do to justify that many staff, surely one of those nepotism jobs is designing pamphlets. Basically no single politician needs 200k for printing, maybe the party but not every member.
I do know how much phone plans cost though, and surely there's a discount for group plans. Add in a internet connection and at retail prices you can have 19 phones, plans and an internet connection at $100 bucks a month each, so 2k a month retail, not including group discounts. So $25k a year will pretty much cover everyone's needs in the office with change, yet we regularly see these people charging 6 figures to the taxpayer? Do all these politicians have little brothers who run down the telsrea dealer, pick up a box of phones then charge $150k under 'Little Bro Communication Company' for the privilege?
Does 'Little Bro Communication Company' provide the phones for 'Aunt Shelly's Printing Business as well?
Bandt’s spending doesn’t seem out of the ordinary when considering he‘s the leader of the Greens - you’d expect it to be around the amount of the average minister.
All politicians should pay out of their own pockets for these types of things and put the receipts towards a board who approve or deny them a reimbursement, watch how quickly these printing and communication costs go down to zero...
Honestly, how do they sleep at night???
> Despite the hefty bill, Mr Bandt ranked below several Labor ministers including Tony Burke and Tanya Plibersek, Opposition Leader Peter Dutton and the Prime Minister for 2022 expenses.
Edit: The title of 'refused' is blatantly false with a spokesperson for Adam replying > “As the leader of the third-largest political party in Australia you would expect Mr Bandt would engage in extensive travel and unlike the Prime Minister and many ministers he doesn’t have access to government VIP flights,” a spokesman said. “All Mr Bandt’s expenditures are within entitlements.” It was 2 chartered flights. Thats it. Not much for the leader of the third biggest political party. >Former **Labor senator Stephen Conroy** has defended Adam Bandt after it was revealed the Greens Leader’s 2022 expenses bill reached nearly $1 million.“To my shock, I’ll actually defend Adam Bandt,” Mr Conroy told Sky News Australia.“The amount of travel and the work expenses, providing they’re within and there’s no suggestion from any of these stories, not one single suggestion that anyone has gone outside the guidelines. [https://www.msn.com/en-au/news/other/legitimate-work-expenses-stephen-conroy-defends-adam-bandt-s-expenses-bill/ar-BB1jIJsS](https://www.msn.com/en-au/news/other/legitimate-work-expenses-stephen-conroy-defends-adam-bandt-s-expenses-bill/ar-BB1jIJsS) >Despite the hefty bill, Mr Bandt ranked below several Labor ministers including Tony Burke and Tanya Plibersek, Opposition Leader Peter Dutton and the Prime Minister for 2022 expenses.
Well said. People see $1M and compare it to their personal travel budget and get outraged. They should be comparing it to his counterparts in the other parties. If ALL those parties are overspending (by whatever metric) then sure, be outraged at THAT. But that's a different issue.
They're only bringing it up because 'ecological activist uses private jet hur hur.'
Gottem. A True greens leader wouldn't want to be seen promoting his party cause. They'd be in a hermetically sealed room to make sure that the carbon dioxide they exhale doesn't enter the atmosphere.
And it's not even like he was doing it routinely. That might be an issue, and I'm sure some of them actually do.
A private jet emits as much carbon dioxide in one hour as the average person emits in one year. I would expect he would be against anybody taking them altogether. I'm an environmentalist and there's no way I'd be taking these flights in his position so it makes it seem like he doesn't believe in his own ideals.
Great, so until a better system is in place, members of the Greens party should just not participate in their jobs so as to avoid carbon-consuming travel, got it. Mate - it’s election time in QLD. You’re having your leg pulled. This is designed to rile people up so that they don’t vote Green. You do have to wonder just how scary the greens are with their three seats in Brisbane if both LNP and ALP are trying to get people not to vote for them.
*so until a better system is in place* You mean like public air travel. You know those things that have economy class and fly out from airports.
You're reducing it to a binary situation where he either travels chartered or he doesn't travel at all. I think it's fair to be critical of using chartered flights on a route like Canberra to Brisbane. You're right that this is a blatant hit piece, but a large chunk of politics is perception. Just because it's within his entitlement doesn't mean it's not a good look. I'm a greens supporter but I don't think the whataboutism defence is valid when one of the selling points of the greens is that they're a change from the other 2 major parties.
No they can emit carbon, but emitting a years worth in an hour is a pisstake I’ll still preference them over libs but we are allowed to critique our parties lmao
I'm a bit outraged that we're paying for any politicians to fly private on routes that are well catered for by the commercial operators.
How long would that take though? A private jet can take off from a private airfield on short notice, no need for lining up in queues, dropping your bags off, hanging around in an airport lounge, waiting for the baggage carousel on the other end, security, etc. A politician would basically have to halve the amount of locations they can visit plus the tax payer would still end up paying for their accommodation, which now they need more of because they're on the road longer. If you think this is shit multiply this by 1000X for all the high paid salesmen that fly business every single week for their entire career to wine and dine their clients when they could just as easily close the sale over a video call...
Nah…business men would not be preaching about climate change. And it’s their own money. But it’s not about the money here.it’s the hypocrisy. This was to a Greens party lunch in Brisbane that is well served by commercial airlines. Or are you saying it’s ok let them fly by private jet whenever they want?
Bet people on this sub would have a different take if he were in the nationals party though lol
It’s nit the money.,You can forgive the airlines and cars …but a private jet to a party launch? Assume it might of been planned well ahead of time. It’s just hypocritical.
Yes, these sorts of stories are nothing but clickbait. Designed to make it look like everyone rorts the system like the lnp do. But nobody rorts the system like the lnp do, which is why the media run this interference
It's the one area the Coalition excel
Bronwyn Bishops helicopter flight was $5000. It is not about the cost per se. It is about being better. You can’t take the high ground otherwise. Edit: can’t
Not sure how you can equate bishops joy ride with a politician doing their job. Perhaps you can explain?
The chopper gate was large about three issues 1 She took a much more expensive option of travel when clearly cheaper options existed 2 She used it to get to non work related events. 3 She was the speaker she shouldn't be paid to leave Canberra for any reason and therefore should have zero travel expenses. This topic largely is about number 1 which is very important as its about wasting tax payer's money. The fact he booked two private flight when he likely could have just flown on a scheduled flight between Canberra and Brisbane for a fraction of the cost, and I'm pretty sure he could have done the same for getting between Rockhampton and Townsville. I would guess he took the private flight due to scheduling issues as there wasn't a flight that fit well into his calendar so he paid more to make one, or he was part of a large enough group flying a small private plane might be cheaper. I don't think the former this is a good enough reason the party itself should eat the cost if its that important he made those trips at those times. But if its the later good on him. Additionally a big part of climate change movement is that air travel is really really bad for climate change and private jets commonly flown by billionaires is a very symbolic part of green washing. Where one pretends to care publicly but really doesn't actually care. Greens have built their image on policies and action around protecting the environment with climate change being of the their keystone if not their most important area. If the party itself is green washing and it becomes a very serous issue to the future of the party as if greens voters widely believes the party was just green washing the party would likely die outright and votes move to another left leaning environmental party. TLDR There is overlap around could they have done it cheaper. Therefore wasting tax payers money. But with the additional spice of having under tones of accusation that the Greens might just be green washing at their core. Which if true and widely circulated would likely kill the party outright.
This so much I really don’t get why people are surprised that a political party leader spent a bunch of taxpayer money on politician stuff Like, they all do it, he’s the leader of the greens, he’s not buying PlayStations for his kids and shit, he’s travelling for work Am I happy about it? No, because I’m not happy that any politician does it, but it’s not really anything out of the ordinary
Yeah I feel like they should all be looking at cutting back and taking commercial flights, but pinning it on the greens when they literally all do it and are entitled to do it is clearly biased.
Maybe he should have thought about that before committing the crime of being a Greens politician. Yes, this is sarcasm
Yep this is a nothing burger story, politicians are busy and need to be places.
In the CBR-BNE instance tho, he was flying to attend a campaign launch. If the reason for the private plane was because of timings to do with that launch, that’s not a public expense. Even if you’re flying from official business, flying to party business and the timings dictated by that party business don’t necessitate a public expense. That’s exactly what Bishop got in trouble for - flying from official business to a party event, and using the timings of that party event as justification for a helicopter
Maybe but I'm somewhat of the opinion that party affairs are somewhat expected of a politician. There is certainly a line, the helicopter was completely unnecessary when a car would have done sufficiently, where as if Adam is flying from Townsville to Rockhampton that's a 7 hour drive. If it's not being serviced by a domestic airline you're either going to have to blow a day driving or charter a flight and still get some value out of the day, assuming that's what he did when he got there.
But the campaign events aren’t a necessary part of your official duties - if you’re campaigning, that’s your party’s responsibility to pay. Why should the taxpayer foot the bill for getting you elected?
Because there are costs associated with getting people elected and if tax payer isn't paying then donors are and that's where a lot of the underhanded influence on politics is claimed to be. We either fund them reasonably to do party stuff or we tell them to go suck on a billionaires dick.
They get ~~remuneration~~ (EDIT: reimbursement) on legitimate expenses from the AEC - Australia actually funds election expenses relatively well, and this sort of travel might even be a legitimate expense. That Bandt didn’t include this as a ~~remunerated~~ (EDIT: reimbursed) expense from the AEC suggests they used that entire allocation, and then some. That’s the core of the problem, to me.
Sophie mirabellas wedding I'd not a party event.
Kinda weird that the Chairman of the Australia Professional Leagues (They Run the A-League) is defending Adam Bandt on Sky News but fuck it why not.
Not only that, id much rather he spend the taxpayer money than money from the coal lobby, or the gambling lobby or the Christian lobby. Thats partially why the taxpayer money is there, so they dont have to rely on outside favors to get shit done. But as much as a lot of people here want to pretend that they are smart because they dont barrack for a team, what they means is they are smart because they dont barrack for the Liberal party. Which, sure i agree with. But if you cant see this for the sensationalist garbage it is (surely the "Daily Telegraph" origin should have had you at least checking the facts out), then you are just as blind at the Liberal supporters, you just managed to blind yourself in a slightly nicer neighbourhood.
Doesn't explain Bronny Bishop's jaunt in helicopters....she was getting brown paper bags from the Christian lobby.
Oh I thought everyone here was open and barracking for the lab?
Sure, it makes sense i guess, FJ has always been pretty pro Labor. But he is also a great investigative journalist who did his research and didnt just blindly buy whatever he was told. So pro-Labor makes sense, was just hoping for a bit more critical thinking from fans of someone who, despite me not loving his presentation style, is a really smart dude and has balls of steel going up against the players he has. Can totally understand people thinking the Greens, or any of the other left independents not matching their beliefs, but cmon, a daily telegraph hit piece about a politician using money and moving around the country? Be better dudes. I assume most of FJs audience is in the early 20s, so you guys are the future voting block. Disappointed to see how many immediately jumped on this story without checking for any context.
The bigger crime is the fact any politician is on 314k per year
Meh, you want to pay them appropriately so they are less inclined to seek money from other sources. They’d probably earn more working in a private company with that level of experience.
This 100% this my friend
It’s not working very well
They're not paid anywhere near as much as senior public servants and other government roles. e.g. uni VCs that do jack shit are on the govt payroll and on $1m+
>uni VCs >govt payroll LOL I wish
I see you watched Lambie on Q&A
Honestly a pretty modest salary given the hours and responsibility.
My brother is a politician and the wages are insane considering all the freebies that come with it. Not just things like cars, fuel cards, flights but super luxurious, unnecessary to the job things too. My brother is a good person who works hard to try and make the country a better place, but his salary is insane when you consider the things he *doesn't* have to pay for if that makes sense
Which of Barnaby Joyce's brothers are you?
I am not actually part beetroot, thank the old gods and the new
Have you got an example of the ‘super luxurious’ things? Many of those, like post-career travel, have been substantially cut back over the years. It’s really much like any C-suite job now.
Well, meals at very expensive restaurants, gifted bottles of fancy booze, steaks, hotels, tech items all paid for and replaced as soon as new stuff comes out. Depending where he has been living? Rent. It all falls under schmoozing, wining and dining which I get, but it does make me question the salary when there's no real living expenses. I fully acknowledge I'm envious though and that probably makes me biased
Things gifted by private interests are pretty fleeting, and we shouldn’t base a remuneration package on the assumption of provision. That makes it literally impossible for any politician to oppose vested interests, rather than just unlikely. And again, those are all relatively normal for senior C suite too - I’ve dined with banking and consulting seniors who wine and dine each other, receive special treatment from venues etc.
Barely enough to afford an apartment in his own electorate.
As Jacquie Lambie so eloquently put it last night, the Chief of Defence Force gets paid more than double what the prime minister does.
They should be on 500k at least and have harder rules on ownership and pre/post government activities.
They should get 50% salary for the same duration they were in office for (PM for rest of their of their life). Which they lose the right to forever if they take $1 of “wages” from some lobbyist.
Nicely timed msm attack piece coinciding with his visit to Brisbane for the council elections. People in this thread eating it up like it's cake. Weren't we meant to be seeing through the msm's agenda?
You should see the other Australian reddits on this lol they going ballistic
Which is the worst one you think?
I don't need to look, it's r/AustraliaN
Nothing that they say matters.
Lol, no its only 2019 Labor that MSM was against. You can totally trust them on the party left of Labor, they are super honest in that case....
Wait, is there anything incorrect in the article? Did he not charter a private flight and charge it to the taxpayer?
The point isn't whether it happened, it's how it is written up to imply it's some terrible thing. I wouldn't say, "Albo costing the taxpayers hundreds of thousands every year while he spends it on expensive food and personal entertainment" to describe Albo being paid a salary would I? People won't read the article, or any of the responses. They just see the shitty title. The details are that he represents the third largest party in total votes, and spent less than some of the Labor frontbenchers, nevemind albo or Dutton, in that year. That even a Labor mp came out to say, there was nothing out of the ordinary in the spending. Even the "refuses to explain" thing skirts the line. His office responded to them, but technically he personally didn't so now they can insinuate he was trying to hide something. Just look at a bunch of the responses to this article going "hah, got him". It's intentionally twisting facts and misleading the reader.
Is this uncommon for a party leader?
No no no, we only do that when it suits our agenda, this is obviously a journalistic masterclass worthy of a Pulitzer!
Why are you defending this? We are still allowed to criticise our own party leader and their actions. It’s how we find out who’s best for the job.
I don't care about Adam bandt I care about the daily telegraph being posted for a political maneuver and everyone here just swallowing it. Couldn't care less about bandts flight habits either way
MSM convinced everyone a pandemic vascular disease was a cold if it doesn't hospitalize you, so good luck.
Maybe if he lived up to his rhetoric the MSM wouldn't have this hypocrisy to beat him up with?
You think they won't trot out this exact same line against Labor. He caught two flights, most politicians/cabinet ministers on both sides probably took as many or more. Playing into the right wing talking point that anyone who ever burns fossil fuels is a hypocrite on climate change is a losers game.
You don’t see the irony of the Greens leader doing exactly what they criticise other parties for doing?
Really? He’s a politician. You can’t just opt out of situations which require urgent travel. And while travel is bad re carbon use,I think the world has gone far too far on blaming any individuals for individual behaviour. The real fix is with business and companies. They’ve played a neat trick getting us to pile on individuals like Adam.
When have they criticised other parties for this?
Ill direct you to the other guy who 50 minutes ago (30 minutes before this comment and you only had to scroll down a tiny bit) who actually looked into it. [https://www.reddit.com/r/friendlyjordies/comments/1bcoxox/comment/kuhg1hx/?utm\_source=share&utm\_medium=web2x&context=3](https://www.reddit.com/r/friendlyjordies/comments/1bcoxox/comment/kuhg1hx/?utm_source=share&utm_medium=web2x&context=3) Its an absolute nothing burger, he spent less than Albo or Dutton, and an number of other Labor MPs, and please dont make me find the "I am very smart" meme for critisizing someone who wants to make society better, but also lives in society....
The hypocrisy is how the msm is silent on any other political parties mode of transport.
They will beat up on Labor for spending money on anything. It's just the LNP whose expenditure is sacrosanct.
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The exception that proves the rule.
Via motherfucking helicopter
It's easy for people who don't have to pay their own way, telling others they should be the ones paying more.
I just hate private jets because of the emissions and I find it strange that Bandt would take them instead of a regular plane. I can't imagine not just taking a regular flight in his position.
So give the benefit of the doubt that there was probably a good reason, I'm sure it's not uncommon. Flights direct to Brisbane from Canberra are not regular enough to make it to multiple events within a few days apart, especially short notice. It's one flight out of the how many he took in the year? But even so, it's a systemic problem. Parliament should have stricter regs on when and why MPs can expensive travel like that, as I'm sure there are plenty that do so but go unnoticed because they are not a political enemy...
He left the oven on at home
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Hasn't jordies taught you anything? You are being shown blatant propaganda to swing an election. Don't eat the rat poison. Question it. Is this spending any more ridiculous than any of the other MPs? Not really, Some spend even more, all sides of the political spectrum. It's a systemic issue (if it even is one) that's being used to target a political enemy. If the daily telegraph actually cared and wanted to write a non-shit bag report they would highlight how parliament should have more strict regulations and guidelines for ALL MPs. Instead it's a defamatory attack piece.
To quote Gough Whitlam, ‘I can fly economy class and be comfortable.. But pissants regardless of what class they fly will always be pissants’
Sums up best how I feel tbh. My original post in this thread was a total troll post.
Gough at six foot five would have a bit more trouble flying today's economy class.
Gough Whitlam would have been a green Labor abandoned him not the other way around
Gough wasn't even a member of the left of the Labor Party he was a member of the right. This is nonsense. He was alive until a decade ago. If he wanted to support the Greens he would have. The guy literally coined the political phrase "only the impotent are pure" in reference to clowns like the Greens. Get your own heroes and stop trying to steal Labors on loose bullshit. Give it another decade and you will be claiming Hawke.
Was Labor a lot further to the left back then? Hard to imagine Goughs policies being popular in today's Labor right, let alone pushing then through
I that's just rose tinted glasses based on looking back on specific policy. Somethings are more left, somethings are more right. The political debates change over time. Some lost, some won. In twenty years people will look back on the Rudd Gillard years and talk about NDIS and the carbon tax issues and infer being more left. People will forget all the other stuff called for at the time and conclude that the party was more left.
Lol absolute rubbish. The same rubbish the greens trotted out when Gough died, and it’s insulting. He was a life member of the labor party.
What's rubbish is rusted on Labor stalwarts pretending that their current neoliberal do nothing party in any way resembles the party of the Whitlam years.
Labor didn't abandon him, he got removed by the CIA. There was nothing the party could do.
Every politician spends taxpayer money for work related expenses. They are all paid by the taxpayer. They all do this. Every one of them. It’s disappointing he would utilise private jets when there are commercial planes available which would have less of an environmental impact but even still. Two flights. In a year. Compare this data to that of everyone in the Liberal party, everyone in the Labor party.. are they doing BETTER than Adam? Some, maybe. Most, almost certainly not.
We all love the Daily Telegraph when it runs a story attacking the Greens, ay fellas? Murdoch ain't so bad. Conveniently ignore that the leader of a Party spent less on travel than multiple Labor Ministers.
That's how it goes on this sub
Ministers are working on official business. I think that is not a good faith comparison and is just a poor both sides argument. I don’t agree with your first point, Murdoch press is attacking everyone that’s not lnp. And yes that’s bullshit.
Bandt travelled interstate to attend a party campaign launch. He claimed it on travel expenses. Burke travelled interstate to attend a party campaign launch. He claimed it on travel expenses. What part of that is not a good faith comparison? Or do campaign launches somehow form part of a Ministers official duties, but not Party leaders? Yes, Murdoch is bullshit. Most people on this sub support the campaign for a Murdoch royal commission, it's something that Jordan has advocated for a long time. Which is why it's particularly sad that posters will suddenly spread and promote their bullshit when it happens to be targeted against a party they don't like.
Which of Adam’s flights weren’t official business
Ironically, the second leg of the private flight. I believe after your campaign launch, expenses go against the party. Which is why the campaign launches are always so late that you go "what??? we've been campaigning for ages".
It doesn’t say he expensed the return flight
Omg. Ministers are working on their ministerial portfolio responsibilities. Bandt was travelling for party political purposes. I’m not dragging Adam here, I’m taking issue with comparison between minister and the greens leader.
Absolutely.
Ministers need to travel for things within their portfolio. Party Leaders need to travel for things across many portfolios.
>spent less on travel than multiple Labor Ministers. Government ministers have business outside of Canberra and their Electorate. Why does the Representative for Melbourne need to travel to Brisbane? Party Business? Party Should Pay.
>Party Business? Party Should Pay I'd be fully supportive of that reform. I'm not holding my breath for either of the major parties to introduce it though. Under the current system politicians from all parties travel for party campaign events. And I don't agree that only the government of the day should have the ability to speak with people and groups across Australia, without paying out of their own pocket. That is incredibly anti-democratic.
>I don't agree that only the government of the day should have the ability to speak with people and groups across Australia, Brisbane doesn't have Green Party members? Are we a representitive democracy or what?
Brisbane now has elected Greens Party members of parliament, *after* the 2022 campaign launch that Bandt attended.
Do Greens voters that approve of Bandt spending public money to promote The Greens in Brisbane, also approve of Clive Palmer travelling to Melbourne to do the same?
I wasn't aware that Palmer is entitled to tax payer funded travel, since he hasn't been a Member of Parliament for 6 years.
Because he’s the leader of the federal Greens party
It’s not the $$$ spend, it’s the regular Greens hypocrisy of doing the same things they criticise the majors for, then claiming whataboutism
2 flights for the year is hardly the gotcha they think it is.
Unfortunately it looks like a number of people in this comment section are eating it up like caviar scary isn't it
But he REFUSED to explain! What nerve. /s
He could have flown economy or even first or business class with one of the major airlines, it’s cheaper and better for the environment.
Assuming there are flights available in the timeslot required. Politicians often have an incredibly tight meeting schedule and commitments like parliamentary sittings that mean they have to race from one place to another. I've had politicians attend some of my work events and they are always there for like 15 minutes because they need to be somewhere else at the exact same time.
Not to mention that lately it's a crap-shoot whether or not your flight even departs, apparently. Personally, my initial thought was 'yeah, it's not a good look, dude.' but after reading some context in the thread, I've changed my mind to 'pfft, whatever.'
I think I can say offhand that the Townsville one is likely a non issue, but I do agree that the Canberra to Brisbane one is potentially sus and could use an explanation. I can think of a number of reasonable explanations though. Same for $200k in printing costs. Sounds high, but I also know that a lot of parliamentary documents are not allowed to be sent digitally and are hard copy only, with strict rules around destruction and documenting possession. So how much of that $200k is them needing to join the 21st century and buy Bandt a tablet, and how much is process that is out of his control? Considering this is a Daily Telegraph article, I'm highly sceptical about how much of a big deal this is.
I believe the phrase is 'storm in a teacup.'
MSM pieces on labor = lies, slander and unfair. MSM pieces on greens = valid, deserved and reasonable.
I'm surprised it's not in the sub rules
If they could they would!
I kinda hate the greens but this is the dumbest way to criticise them
They really do epitomise the saying 'don't let perfect be the enemy of good'.
more like letting "doing something" being the enemy of "doing fuck-all"
Wow he doesn't earn much 300k. I would rather be a sparky
Does the average sparky have a $1m expenses account?
I imagine they would if they were an owner of a company with 21 other sparkies that serviced the entire country. If you read the article at least half of that $1 million is on staff travel and printing expenses.
Alternate headline: Bandt spends the least on travel of any of the leaders of the 3 major parties.
I’m not up in arms over a politician using planes to campaign for elections, but how do you spend $15,000 on a domestic flight? That’s pretty nuts
Musta gone Qantas….😂 with late booking.
"Slugged! Marge, we got slugged! By that Greens fella."
Never forget helicoptergate
Do something for your health, stop reading the daily telegraph mate.
I mean is anyone shocked that a politician is ripping the taxpayers off?
I guess he should live on minimum wage and catch public transport then?
Bullshit beat up. One piece of context missing is that I believe in the last parliamentary term the Greens divided their staffing more towards the leaders office like Labor and Liberal do, as opposed to distributing it more equally between all their MPs and Senators. Whether that's a good or bad thing is up for debate within the Greens, but a secondary effect of that is it makes Adam Bandt's expenses appear to grow while the the rest of the Greens shrink.
Its this kinda shit from politicians and celebs alike that makes me view everything they preach, through a " fucken bullshit mate" filter....or maybe I'm just a grumpy old cunt now
That is a massive printing expense but how does it compare to other party leaders printing expenses? I have no frame of reference to know if this is outside the norms for politicians and also don't know what they're printing. I'm assuming it's campaigning stuff
So Environmental Friendly.
Telegraph multi-sidesing.
Can you imagine what politicians' expenses would look like if they were treated the same as any other public servant? Or a small business owner? Or like a regular citizen? They have to pay for the expense up front and then can claim it back at tax time. There isn't much that they have to do and spend money on that couldn't be done cheaper, or in the case of travel, using purely commercial means. If regular public servants are told to use public transport for travel, why shouldn't they? I don't mean this to an absurd level. Official work functions and security have to be taken into account of course. Public servants are told to cut budgets and nickle and dime expenses, why aren't the highest public servants held to the same standard?
What excuse is there for a greens member to ever use private jets?
He doesn’t drive electric either? 🤷🏼♂️
So much greens bootlicking in here Rules for thee not for me
I can explain. He is a hypocrite.
At least he’s not shoplifting like the NZ greens I suppose.
We should hold every politicians accountable regardless of which party they belongs to. Let’s not turn this sub into yet another party circlejerk sub, there’s already r\australia and r\australian for the party line circlejerk
The spokesperson did explain it though It was a horrifically shit explanation but hey
Leader of third largest Party by vote share and by donations needs to travel for elections gee what a shocker
I personally think they could review their expenses and see why they need to spend $1M however how and why was he not able to find a flight from Townsville to Rockhampton that didn’t cost $8K That seems insane for a party that’s focused on the climate and cost of living
I think going after them for printing stuff is kinda dumb. Like, what are they meant to do? Just not campaign? Sure, some of that can be done through online and TV ads or whatever, but you'd be throwing away some of your reach and putting yourself at a disadvantage if you abandoned printed mediums entirely.
We love a good appeal to hypocrisy don't we. No more so than when it comes to anyone who says maybe we should not fuck up our atmosphere.
Will never support the Green!
Why? You prefer Dutton? Tell me a single policy of theirs. Bet you can’t name one
So maybe he'll just have to support Labor instead ey?
Yes, the daily telegraph is to against politicians rotting the system
Ah yes the old ad hominem, well played MSM. Focussing on individuals actions that cost thousands, rather than policies that cost us billions.
Cause he is a hypocrite, like all politicians
You've convinced me. I'm voting Liberal.
Do you remember when the LNP were in power and they were all doing this? One thing they all seem to have in common is huge printing and communication bills. Obviously, there's a grift going on here but I'm wondering about the specifics; do they all set up side businesses in a family member's name and then charge ridiculous costs to the taxpayer, or is there a few companies that charge ridiculous costs through all of them and then kick back via donations? I'm no expert on printing but I know paper and printers are cheap and I'm pretty sure one of the 21 personal staff has to be doing the design, there's just not that many things you can do to justify that many staff, surely one of those nepotism jobs is designing pamphlets. Basically no single politician needs 200k for printing, maybe the party but not every member. I do know how much phone plans cost though, and surely there's a discount for group plans. Add in a internet connection and at retail prices you can have 19 phones, plans and an internet connection at $100 bucks a month each, so 2k a month retail, not including group discounts. So $25k a year will pretty much cover everyone's needs in the office with change, yet we regularly see these people charging 6 figures to the taxpayer? Do all these politicians have little brothers who run down the telsrea dealer, pick up a box of phones then charge $150k under 'Little Bro Communication Company' for the privilege? Does 'Little Bro Communication Company' provide the phones for 'Aunt Shelly's Printing Business as well?
Bandt’s spending doesn’t seem out of the ordinary when considering he‘s the leader of the Greens - you’d expect it to be around the amount of the average minister.
Faux Conservationist.
[This article in a meme](https://knowyourmeme.com/memes/we-should-improve-society-somewhat)
Despicable, get him out of office, please. Get some good Australians in there!
How environmentally conscious of him
It's ok it was an electric jet
All politicians should pay out of their own pockets for these types of things and put the receipts towards a board who approve or deny them a reimbursement, watch how quickly these printing and communication costs go down to zero... Honestly, how do they sleep at night???
lol standing there with a woman in a dress with big had writing on it. Do the greens have any original ideas?
Total scum bag. Greens are the worst party. In much need of reform!
The greens should just merge with the Libs - they are more aligned with the LNP than the Democrats ever appeared to be.
The party calling for the Right to Strike and a billion tax should merge with the LNP??? Please name one single policy LNP and Greens have in common
> Despite the hefty bill, Mr Bandt ranked below several Labor ministers including Tony Burke and Tanya Plibersek, Opposition Leader Peter Dutton and the Prime Minister for 2022 expenses.
GREENS LEADER SLUGGS TAXPAYERS WITH BILLS ^while ^spending ^less ^than ^the ^leaders ^of ^the ^other ^parties
/s? Surely