Post by NFA on Jun 1, 2024 7:06:43 GMT 8
A poor call to fly west
Vikki Campion
Forget how many blondes it takes to change a lightbulb; the latest joke is how many political operatives do you need to make a Skype call?
Gold Coast-based Agriculture Minister Murray Watt revealed in Senate estimates this week that his now infamous trip to hold a virtual meeting from the Commonwealth Public Offices in the Perth CBD to shut down mutton exports to the Middle East required himself, two personal Ministerial staff members, and two public servants from the Braddon-located Department of Agriculture.
Presumably, they travelled at the pointy end of the plane.
The cost of that is about $4000 to $7000 per round ticket from Canberra to Perth.
This calls into question what was so crucial for four staff plus a federal minister to fly to the western state only to hold a one-hour-long virtual meeting on Teams.
Minister Watt, a proud former class action lawyer, defended the $25,000 phone call – saying he felt he should “front up” to Western Australia.
Had he had the guts to give the livelihood-ending news to graziers face-to-face at Katanning, and not just select hand-picked journalists in the Perth CBD, this would have been a fair call rather than a laughable excuse.
Vikki Campion
Forget how many blondes it takes to change a lightbulb; the latest joke is how many political operatives do you need to make a Skype call?
Gold Coast-based Agriculture Minister Murray Watt revealed in Senate estimates this week that his now infamous trip to hold a virtual meeting from the Commonwealth Public Offices in the Perth CBD to shut down mutton exports to the Middle East required himself, two personal Ministerial staff members, and two public servants from the Braddon-located Department of Agriculture.
Presumably, they travelled at the pointy end of the plane.
The cost of that is about $4000 to $7000 per round ticket from Canberra to Perth.
This calls into question what was so crucial for four staff plus a federal minister to fly to the western state only to hold a one-hour-long virtual meeting on Teams.
Minister Watt, a proud former class action lawyer, defended the $25,000 phone call – saying he felt he should “front up” to Western Australia.
Had he had the guts to give the livelihood-ending news to graziers face-to-face at Katanning, and not just select hand-picked journalists in the Perth CBD, this would have been a fair call rather than a laughable excuse.