Deputy mayor Rick Baberowski’s business class trip voted down

A Sunshine Coast councillor has been slammed for wanting council to fund a business class flight so he could avoid jetlag on a $21k study trip to the Netherlands.

Councillor Rick Baberowski asked council to approve business class travel to the Netherlands for a study tour.

The Sunshine Coast Council deputy mayor’s request for business class travel to Europe for a $21,000 study trip has been slammed by some of his colleagues in a council meeting as a cost of living crisis engulfs the region.

Deputy mayor Councillor Rick Baberowski had sought to break with the council’s travel policy, where economy class is the preferred option, and had asked the council to authorise expenditure of up to $21,000 for a trip to the Netherlands on a public transport study tour.

The Mobility and City Planning Study Tour runs from June 25-30 2023, with Mr Baberowski required to travel 24 hours each way to the destination.

Mr Baberwoski‘s request, which was tabled before a council meeting, stated he needed business class travel to avoid being too jet-lagged to participate fully in the tour, given he was unable to depart Australia until at least June 23, due to his attendance at the council’s budget adoption meeting currently scheduled for June 22.

“Given the density of value embedded in every day of this deliberately intensive study tour, I don’t want to go if I can’t maximise my capacity and the opportunity to extract every ounce of value from every session on every day,” he said.

“I know the effects of jetlag on me, it’s a very real thing.”

The motion was voted down nine against two, with several councillors expressing “grave concerns” during the meeting.

Councillor Christian Dickson said he did not feel right about the business class flights.

“It’s not only the perception but the real cost,” he said.

“I’m in a situation where I’m asked to spend $11,000 on private transfers, yet I drive to work in the rain and I see kids sitting in the rain waiting for a bus and I get told by council staff we don’t have funding for bus shelters.”

Councillor Rick Baberowski is on the Sunshine Coast Council Active Transport Advisory Committee.

Councillor Ted Hungerford said he could not support business class but moved to amend the proposal to include premium economy.

“I would be prepared to accept the premium economy class and if you want to take the business class you can pay the difference yourself,” he said.

The motion was not seconded and Mr Baberowski objected to the idea.

“Premium economy is not an opportunity to lie down and sleep,” he said.

“Like a good many, I don’t sleep sitting up.”

Mr Baberowski said he had managed to secure a discount of $3500, bringing the total costs down to $17,500.

The Webjet website this week showed the cheapest business class flights to Amsterdam were $8,642 and rose to $18,045.

Councillor Joe Natoli questioned the necessity of the trip and Mr Baberowski’s track record in public transport management.

“The fact is that public transport is predominantly the state government’s responsibility and in your time we’ve not really seen any major improvement in public transport or road infrastructure on the Sunshine Coast,” he said.

“The cost of living and the pressures on a lot of people is extreme and to consider spending up to $21,000 in that climate would be abhorrent to a lot of people.”

Councillor Winston Johnston agreed that the expense would “not go down well with the ratepayers of the Sunshine Coast”.

“The community would consider this as a junket,” Mr Johnston said while speaking to the motion in the meeting.

Councillor Terry Landsberg, the only councillor other than Mr Baberowski to support the plan, said he was disappointed in the discussion and that council had failed to back itself.

“We are always under-represented in the state and federal government in terms of public transport,” he said.

“I would’ve liked to have seen us fully get behind councillor Rick.

“If we don’t continue to back ourselves to represent our community I think we should stop looking over our shoulder.”