Bureaucrats also enjoying Qantas Chairman’s Lounge

All the controversy over pollies and their family members being given access to the Qantas Chairman’s Lounge hasn’t bothered the bureaucrats, with most senior staff members of the club.

All the controversy over pollies and their family members being given access to the Qantas Chairman’s Lounge hasn’t bothered the bureaucrats.

The latest departmental gift disclosures showing most senior staff are also members of the exclusive club.

Some could argue there is less of a conflict of interest concern among the senior mandarins, especially since they have to publicly disclosure their memberships.

Education department secretary Tony Cook and his partner, four deputy secretaries and two of their partners have all accepted invites to become members of the exclusive club.

Secretary of the Australian Government Department of Education Tony Cook has accejpted memberships of both the Qantas Chairman’s Lounge and Virgin Beyond. Picture: NewsWire/Martin Ollman

The register reveals Cook and his partner also accepted an invitation to become a member of the super-secretive Virgin Beyond lounge, as did three of Cook’s deputy secretaries and one of their partners.

Australian Taxation Office head Rob Heferen disclosed an ongoing Chairman’s Lounge membership. Heferen is also a member of the Beyond Lounge (Virgin’s version of the Chairman’s Lounge).

Department of Infrastructure secretary Jim Betts also disclosed a Chairman’s Lounge membership, with four of his deputy secretaries also declaring access.

Senior Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade and also Department of Social Services officials also disclosed “ongoing” Chairman’s Lounge memberships.

And that’s just the registers that we accessed.

SIDE HUSTLE

Next time you ride in an Uber, consider the fact that the driver may well also be the personal chauffeur of Treasurer Daniel Mookhey.

Mookhey – like many ministers – has two taxpayer-funded ministerial chauffeurs at his beck and call.

The Sauce this week confirmed rumours that one of the drivers doubles as an Uber driver during his down time – and, no, we checked he’s not using the ministerial car to pick up drunken partygoers.

NSW Treasurer Daniel Mookhey One of his drivers has a legitimate side hustle. Picture: NewsWire/Gaye Gerard

The side hustle is all above board, with the driver having made the declaration of the “second job” to the Department of Premier and Cabinet as required.

Curiously though, after we posed questions, the aforementioned form was circulated among the drivers to ensure everyone had made their declarations.

Should your Uber driver suddenly blast Swifty’s I Can Do it With a Broken Heart or start talking about horizontal fiscal equalisation, you’ve probably got the right bloke.

ICAC JOBS

The NSW Independent Commission Against Corruption must be busy given it is advertising for a several new investigators.

Job one is for a grade 3 investigator, while the second job is for a grade four temporary investigator.

The corruption watchdog has also advertised for a “forensic accountant” who can apply their expertise in the “investigation of allegations of corrupt conduct”.

Separately, the state government has advertised for an “independent complaints officer” for NSW parliament.

The job ad states the key responsibility of the officer is to “receive and investigate complaints from members, members’ staff, parliamentary department staff, contractors, interns, trainees and volunteers”.

The officer will also be responsible for dealing with complaints from “minor misconduct issues” such as the incorrect use of entitlements to “claims of bullying and harassment arising during the current parliamentary term”.

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Originally published as Bureaucrats also enjoying Qantas Chairman’s Lounge