Exiting Labor MP Jenny Macklin gifted $50K New York junket

RETIRING Labor MP Jenny Macklin has been handed an all-expenses-paid taxpayer-funded junket to New York as a farewell gift for her two decades in federal parliament.

RETIRING Labor MP Jenny Macklin has been handed an all-expenses-paid taxpayer-funded junket to New York as a farewell gift for her two decades in federal parliament.

The Victorian MP travelled to the US on a business-class flight this week as part of a 12-week annual parliamentary posting to the United Nations.

The trip traditionally comes with a $20,000 cash advance for day-to-day expenses, and the Department of Finance foots the bill for three months in a five-star hotel in Manhattan’s Upper East Side.

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The bill from flights and accommodation is likely to cost another $30,000.

The same posting, often gifted to MPs in the twilight of their careers, was offered to Liberal MPs Julia Banks and Ann Sudmalis by Prime ­Minister Scott Morrison after they both blew the whistle on bullying within the party.

Liberal sources say both had threatened to quit their marginal seats immediately and force the government to by-elections.

Labor last night accused the Liberals of trying to buy Ms Sudmalis’ silence, and she would not confirm whether she had accepted the offer. Ms Banks knocked back the trip.

The public pays an average bill of more than $100,000 each year to send an MP from Labor and the Liberals for the posting. But the trip has angered some of Ms Macklin’s colleagues, who say sending her when she will quit at the next election would have no benefit for taxpayers.

Jenny Macklin will be staying at the Bristol Plaza hotel on East 65th Street, New York.

A bedroom at the Bristol Plaza hotel on East 65th Street, New York.

The lobby of the Bristol Plaza hotel on East 65th St, New York.

Jenny Macklin travelled to the US on a business-class flight this week as part of a 12-week annual parliamentary posting to the United Nations.

“This is the person who cut the pension for single mums in government and now we’re sending her off on this junket when she’s about to retire on a pension of probably $200,000 a year,” one Labor MP said.

“What benefit does the public get from that?”

The Bristol Plaza, where the MPs traditionally stay, promotes itself as “just steps” from Central Park with residential-style suites that bring together “beautiful design and luxurious details”.

Past parliamentarians have also spent up to a week at Washington DC’s glitzy Jeffersen Hotel — complete with a Michelin-star restaurant — where standard guest rooms begin at $375 a night.

Delegates normally work with the Australian Mission to the United Nations and conduct speaking engagements. “Jenny is one of the hardest-working and most experienced members of the parliament with an unparalleled record in public policy,” a Labor spokesman said last night. “She’s the best person to represent Australia in this role.”

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Originally published as Exiting Labor MP Jenny Macklin gifted $50K New York junket