By Kishor Napier-Raman and Noel Towell
Every three months, we get a reminder that politicians have the privilege of being able to put all manner of perks, from travel to accommodation, on the taxpayer dime, thanks to the Independent Parliamentary Expenses Authority. And the latest data has a few juicy tidbits.
IllustrationCredit: John Shakespeare
First, an honourable mention to One Nation leader Pauline Hanson. After nearly being weeded out of the Senate by the Legalise Cannabis Party, and disappearing after a bout of COVID, she returned to the public eye at the Federal Court in Sydney for a defamation case brought against her by ex-One Nation colleague Brian Burston. Flights and Comcar travel from Brisbane were all paid for by the taxpayer.
Despite quitting parliament ahead of the election, former Northern Territory Senator Sam McMahon, whose home is in Katherine, was the biggest spender on travel allowance, charging $38,621 for 96 nights away from home between January and May. We get the NT is big, but those frequent $457-a-night stays in Darwin really do add up.
George Christensen used his final months as an MP to get a bit of help setting up his wannabe media empire, spending nearly $20,000 worth of your money on high-quality video streaming software. We bet he made some cool stuff with that!
Former finance minister Simon Birmingham topped the domestic frequent flyer list, charging $32,000 in air travel, much of that coming during the election campaign.
Little surprise that the biggest spenders on overseas travel were ministers from the current and former governments. And Greens Senator Sarah Hanson-Young, who charged $7710 to attend the COP26 climate conference in Glasgow last year.
Cultural Exchange
We were intrigued by news on Thursday that Australia’s very own National Stock Exchange (NSX) had signed a joint venture agreement with Saudi Arabian corporate giant Ajlan & Bros to establish a second securities and commodities market in the kingdom.
Intrigued because NSX (not to be confused with the ASX, which is Australia’s proper stock exchange) has had as long association with John Karantzis, the Aussie-Cypriot businessman whose brushes with authorities – the Tax Office, the Australian Securities and Investment Commission and the ASX itself – have made him a staple of the nation’s business pages.
We know the Saudis have had their PR problems of late but we can’t help wondering if they know what they’re getting into.
Victor Dominello speaks at the Government Services Summit eariler this year.Credit: Olive + Maeve
Minister for Geeks
The soon-to-be retired NSW Customer Service Minister Victor Dominello has been described in another publication as the nation’s geekiest politician, a characterisation the member for Ryde is proud of.
Which may help explain some of Dominello’s recent investments – he has bought shares in Elon Musk’s SpaceX. Given the multibillionaire’s rocket ship company isn’t publicly listed, Dominello would have had to go through the process of buying off a private shareholder.
He also recently bought cryptocurrency – Bitcoin and Cardano to be precise. It hasn’t been a great year for either, with Cardano hitting a 21-month low. Not the most lucrative investment for a post-parliamentary career.
Climbing Everest
Nature Strip is odds-on to defend his crown at the $15 million Everest Race in Sydney this Saturday. But among the upstarts hoping to pip the champion is three-year-old Jacquinot.
Once upon a time, Jacquinot was the horse no one wanted, but has turned things around, going undefeated in his third year, taking home more than $1 million in prize money, and storming to victory at the recent Golden Rose.
That’s all rather good news for some of his well-connected owners, which include former Westpac chair and BHP board member Lindsay Maxsted, former Westfield general counsel and current Racing NSW board member Simon Tuxen and Scentre Group’s recently departed chief executive Peter Allen.
DJs Play On
Speculation is mounting that Australian department store David Jones is soon to be offloaded by its South African parent company, and the punters at a soiree to re-launch the chain’s Melbourne flagship shop on Wednesday evening were certainly left with that impression.
David Jones department store at Bourke Street Mall.Credit: Eamon Gallagher
Attendees were promised a “night like no other” as chief executive Scott Fyfe unveiled the $50-million do-up and CBD’s informants on Bourke Street Mall agreed it was certainly unusual, likening the experience to a real estate open inspection, with guests barely being given time for a gulp of Veuve – or Tempus Two prosecco – before being marched to the next level.
Notables included former foreign minister Julie Bishop, still living her best life in the wake of her break-up with David Panton and who said she was “here for the fashion”, Melbourne Lord Mayor Sally Capp, Lucy Feagins from the Design Files, and Joost Bakker who did the flower display, which included fish, crickets and – true story – meal worms.
Fyfe raised eyebrows in his speech when he mentioned that DJs was the “oldest department store in the world still trading under its original name”, which we thought was worth a fact check, and his story checks out.
David Jones – established 1838 – is indeed older than places such as Harrods (1849), Liberty (1875) and even New York’s Macy’s (1858).
As for Selfridges, it’s a relative newcomer to the trade, founded in 1908.
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