The Sauce: Perks aplenty for pollies but only Minns flying high

The latest ministerial disclosures revealed Premier Chris Minns to be the only pollie to receive an invite to Beyond, Virgin Australia’s invitation-only airline lounge.

It’s Virgin Australia’s answer to the Qantas Chairman’s Lounge – and has snagged at least one high-profile member.

An exclusive, invitation-only airline lounge with its unmarked doors (only VIPs in the club know where to find them), Beyond seeks to close the gap with Qantas.

In the latest ministerial disclosures, Premier Chris Minns revealed he received an invite to become a Beyond member in March 2024.

Virgin Australia’s invitation only Beyond lounge. Picture: Supplied

The disclosures show Mr Minns appears to be the only pollie to receive an invite.

Housing Minister Rose Jackson disclosed a Virgin Platinum Lounge Membership, a tier down from Beyond.

POLLIE PERKS

Airline memberships aside, the latest Cabinet Office disclosures shows ministers have scored when its comes to complimentary tickets.

Health Minister Ryan Park topped the list with 30 tickets totalling over $12,000. Mr Minns disclosed a bunch of footy tickets.

NSW Premier Chris Minns. Picture: NewsWire/Nikki Short

Housing Minister Rose Jackson. Picture: NewsWire/Gaye Gerard

But there was no watching the dreaded timer on a ticket seller website for concert tickets. Ms Jackson received two tickets worth $876 in total to Coldplay and another two tickets worth $798 in total to the Olivia Rodrigo concert.

Ms Jackson also disclosed four tickets worth $540 to Hamilton, two tickets to Chicago worth $298, two tickets to Sister Act worth $300, and four Jesus Christ Superstar tickets worth $520, the latter which she declined.

Corrections Minister Anoulack Chanthivong snagged four tickets worth over $500 to Elf the Musical from the Sydney Opera House, while Police Minister Yasmin Catley declared two tickets to Taylor Swift, worth over $500, and another $500-plus worth of State of Origin tickets. Gaming and Racing Minister David Harris disclosed four tickets worth $1000 to the Laneway Festival from Destination NSW;

Venues NSW handed Mr Minns two tickets to Taylor Swift and Coldplay tickets to Education Minister Pru Car and Emergency Services Minister Jihad Dib. Dib also got three tickets to Olivia Rodrigo from Live Nation.

WORK IN PROGRESS

Freshly elected Liberal member for Grey Tom Venning has obviously had a bit on looking after Australia’s third-biggest electorate. In fact, he has been so busy, he hasn’t even had time to finish his website.

Member for Grey Tom Venning. Picture: X

The first-time parliamentarian’s website includes a heartfelt biography detailing his life as a fifth-generation farmer and his hopes and dreams for the electorate that takes up 90 per cent of South Australia.

All going well so far but, by time he got to fleshing out his “platform”, poor Tom seems to have run out of time. It is the Regional Services section that proves to be the most … or least … illuminating. After making the groundbreaking revelation that people in regional areas have to travel too far to access critical health services, poor Tom again ran out of inspiration and left his notes behind. “XXXXX [Not sure what we can say the Libs will do in this area] XXXXXX.”

At least he has another three years to figure it out – and update his website.

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Originally published as The Sauce: Perks aplenty for pollies but only Minns flying high