Suseonline,
two wrongs don't excuse the intend. Of course it happens on all levels & in all sorts of organisations but from what I have witnessed the ALP Public Service just happened to top the charts. Now we have a Coalition Government & the ALP component in the Public Service is still rorting the system although they're getting less blatant now.

$57,673 on airfares for a 10-day trip? Unbelievable. How can that possibly be justified? I just entered an itinerary (Sydney-Paris-Brussels-Berlin-Sydney) with QANTAS, flying first class for two people, and it came in at $37,223 during this (peak) period. A further search for next May/June (another peak season) offered $36,373 for the same itinerary. Of course, those who've been there would know that it isn't necessary to fly from Paris to Brussels, and that rail networks are possibly cheaper and more efficient. I'm guessing the $57k includes an entourage, right? I mean, they're spending $891.40 per night on hotels, assuming that they have rooms booked for each of the 10 days they were there. That's a lot of minibar action!

Posted by *RawMustard* Friday, 13 December 2013 9:31:32 AM

" ... Now I know the reason it's called "Polyticks!" ... "

HaHaHa yes indeed, well said *RM*

*PolyTicks* and *Wig Parasites* who get upwards of $AU500 per hour for writing a paragraph and where what they take 1 month to achieve should take less than 1 week.

As previously said, the flip side of the productivity coin is that way too many people get paid way too much for doing way too little.

And we should all consider being mindful of the fact that $AU (money) is an energy and doesn't dissapear, but rather gets concentrated such that you can be sure that if a whole lot of people are to get a whole lot less, then at least a few people will be getting a whole lot more.

Instead of allowing these individuals to become the non productive "Dead Beats" that they are who sit around ingratiating themselves they should be driven to invest or otherwise be heavily taxed and in that regard there could be some choice opportunities.

As for Holden, whilst tragic for the workers, my view is ... 'em and let them burn as they have been screwing this country along with the likes of Ford and Qantas etc for far too long.

Pick their bones, ravage their carcass and do it yourselves.

Otokonoko,

I am pleased that you have gone straight to the needless excess that I find so exasperating.

It isn't just that they abuse the taxpayers with junkets. It is that they are also so excessive in their self-indulgence.

It really does bother me. I can understand that somebody like the PM might be advised not to travel in the economy cabin - it might be harder to protect him/her from nutters there - but the Climate Change Minister?

I don't really understand the relevance of travel in the lead-up to an election, either. I get that the 'unofficial' campaign period was 10 months long, and that business must be conducted then, but that's a lot of money to be spent by people who have no real assurance that they'll be able to put what they have learnt into action upon their return. I trust that everything he gained on that trip has been tabled and handed over to the new government for use into the future. Though it could have been gained at a far smaller cost!

You're wrong about the Labor people wasting money because Mr Carr was the Forign Minister and has the right to travel about. Other Labor people did prodective things when they went oversaes like trying to find money to help the unemployed people because they knew that the Liberal Party would cause unemployment. Look at Holden and Ford and Toyota the Liberal won't give them anything at all and that's very bad indeed for unemployment!