The Sauce: Health Minister’s overnighter at Hard Rock Hotel

As NSW government ministers resume overseas travel, one senior Liberal checked in to the Hard Rock Hotel in San Diego on the taxpayer’s dime— but called the trip “excruciating”.

NSW government ministers have wasted no time in jetting off overseas on a taxpayer-funded business trips this year – with one Minister staying at a $1025-a-night Hard Rock Hotel suite during his sojourn.

Details of the ministerial trips released by the NSW Department of Premier and Cabinet show Health Minister Brad Hazzard checked in to the famous Hard Rock Hotel in San Diego during a trip to the US and Canada in June.

The travel log for the trip shows Mr Hazzard stayed two nights in San Diego, the first at the Urban Boutique Hotel at a cost of $905 before curiously hopping over to the Hard Rock Hotel the following night.

Health Brad Hazzard slips over to US and Canada Picture: NCA Newswire

Was it a case of Mr Hazzard wanting to let his hair down after two years of a pandemic with a stress-busting session on a Fender guitar – guests at the hotel are encouraged to borrow its instruments to “create their own music” – or sing in the hotel elevator which features a microphone and backing tracks? Or was it the kingsize beds and rooftop pool?

Quizzed about the trip in Budget Estimates last week, Mr Hazzard said he had been asked by NSW Health to attend a biotech conference and had also met with health officials about Covid.

“I left, I think, on the Thursday or Friday to get home, so I had all of three-and-a-half or four days there, which was fairly excruciating actually,” he said.

“Rock star suite” – Hard Rock Hotel San Diego. Picture: Supplied

“We had a number of – well, hundreds – of companies there actually from all across the world, and the focus was to try and accelerate interest in NSW from the biotech industry.

“I had a day and a half there and then flew to Toronto to meet the health system people there who’d been working on similar issues to us in Covid.”

As for the pricey overnighter at the Hard Rock Hotel, Mr Hazzard told The Sauce that government agents chose the accommodation after the first hotel he had stayed in was deemed too far from the conference.

Mr Hazzard said the choices of hotels were limited – and prices inflated – as a result of a baseball league event and more than 15,000 descending into the city for the biotech conference.

Rock star memorabilia at the San Diego Hard Rock Hotel Picture: Supplied

Recovering from the effects of Covid, Mr Hazzard said he had delayed his trip by several days meaning acommodation options were limited.

“The (Hard Rock) was over the road from the biotech conference and where my health team were staying,” Mr Hazzard said.

“It was booked when I got there because the first hotel I had stayed in was too far away from the conference.

“It was only after I had stayed the night there and woke up for breakfast that I noticed all the ’60s rock memorabilia. I found the biotech conference far more interesting.”

After San Diego, Mr Hazzard flew to Toronto, staying at the Courtyard By Marriott from June 15-18 at a total cost of $1841.

Meanwhile, there was no slumming it when dumped Minister Stuart Ayres took a trip to London in February to open discussions with Formula One organisers about moving the Melbourne Grand Prix to his electorate.

The official documents shows the Penrith MP staying four nights in a double room in the luxury Corinthia Hotel at a total taxpayer cost of almost $6000.

A bathroom inside the luxury Corinthia Hotel in London. Picture: Supplied

It is understood Ayres travelled with the head of his department, Amy Brown.

And Enterprise, Investment and Trade Minister Alister Henskens zipped over to Israel, a trip which included a three-night stay at The American Colony Hotel at a cost of just over $2000.

PUB WARS

After more than two years in lockdown, Sydney’s pubs are once again battling it out for the title of City Hotel of the Year at the Australian Hotels Association NSW’s Awards for Excellence.

Among the 18 venues in the “Metro Hotel of the Year” category are well-known venues such as the CBD’s Opera Bar, the Harbour View Hotel and Shell House, along with eastern suburbs stalwarts the Coogee Bay Hotel, The Robin Hood Hotel in Waverley, the Royal Hotel Randwick and the Woollahra Hotel.

The Oaks Hotel is nominated for Metro Hotel of the Year. Picture: Supplied

Also on the list are northwest Sydney’s most popular drinking holes, including the Bella Vista Hotel, the Duke of Dural and Mullane’s Hotel.

Other contenders include The Rose of Australia in Erskineville, Bangor Tavern, Harbord Hotel in Freshwater, Hunters Hill Hotel, Longueville Hotel in Lane Cove, The Oaks in Neutral Bay and The Richmond Inn.

A new “People’s Choice Award” is now part of the 35-category mix, which AHA NSW chief executive John Whelan said gave punters the chance to get involved after a horror few years.

“(The awards) are something we have not been able to do since 2019, so there has never been a better time to come together and recognise the resilience and innovation of our incredible industry,” he said.

Other categories include Best Live Music Venue, Best Late Night Venue, and Best Metropolitan Local.

Entries will be independently judged at The Cutaway, Barangaroo, on October 24.

DAI-VERSITY

Independent MP Dai Le is all about diversity and inclusion – as is evidenced by her staff. Le, who kicked off her Canberra career on Monday by delivering her maiden speech dressed in a traditional Vietnamese áo dài made from fabric printed with the Australian flag, has hired a former United Australia Party candidate who ran against her in the seat of Fowler in May to be a part of her electorate office team.

Independent MP Dai Le hires ex-UAP rival. Picture: NCA NewsWire

A local from Le’s Western Sydney hometown of Fairfield, Lela Panich is a marketing expert and mother of five of Serbian descent who declared on her UAP profile page how the pandemic spurred her to enter politics in response to the government “stripping Australians of basic human rights, freedom and liberties”.

Panich received the fourth highest primary vote of the seven candidates after Kristina Keneally for Labor, Liberal candidate Courtney Nguyen and Le.

A Canberra source said the regular churchgoer and community volunteer had since quit UAP and, as the pair shared the common goal of seeking a better deal for Western Sydney, hiring Panich was a “no-brainer”.

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