Scott Morrison defends Mathias Cormann’s $4000 per hour flights

Spending $4000 per hour helping Mathias Cormann secure a tax-free job is a worthwhile investment, the Prime Minister insists.

Mathias Cormann “would have contracted COVID-19” if he wasn’t given taxpayer-funded flights to secure a tax-free job, the Prime Minister claims.

The former finance minister quit politics earlier this month, announcing he would bid to become secretary-general of the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD).

Although his income is no longer on the public purse, Mr Cormann has used taxpayer money to fly to several countries across Europe and the Middle East during his campaign.

An RAAF jet, which reports say costs $4000 for every hour it is used, remains on standby for the former finance minister. He has already racked up 20,000 kilometres in the RAAF Dassault 7X.

Mathias Cormann has already racked up more than 20,000 kilometres in the RAAF Dassault 7X.

But Scott Morrison argued with coronavirus “running rampant” across Europe, there was no alternative to using the air force.
“There really wasn’t the practical option to use commercial flights in the time we had available because of COVID,” he told 2GB Radio.

“If Mathias was flying around on commercial planes, he would have got COVID. The risk of that was extremely high. So this is about safety, this is about health.

“So the COVID environment has really demanded this more than anything else.”

Mr Cormann would become the first Australian to head the OECD, and Mr Morrison said the use of taxpayer funds showed the government was taking his bid seriously.

Mr Cormann ‘would have got COVID’ on commercial flights, the Prime Minister said. Picture: NCA NewsWire / Gary Ramage

“This is a very important position, and the OECD is going to play a really important role in the global economic recovery,” he said.

“Mathias would be an upstanding secretary-general of the OECD, standing up for those liberal democratic market-based values which it represents.”

Mr Morrison cited the Rudd government’s campaign for a Security Council seat as proof the investment was worthwhile. Taxpayers spent $25m to secure the seat.

Labor has given bipartisan support for Mr Cormann’s bid for the secretary-generalship, but the Greens are pushing the OECD to reject it over his record on climate change.

Labor has backed Mr Cormann’s bid, but the Greens are pushing for the OECD to reject it. Picture: NCA NewsWire / Gary Ramage

Mr Cormann has recently championed a “green recovery” for the post-COVID global economy and has defended the Coalition’s record on climate change.

But Greens leader Adam Bandt has written to the OECD, arguing Mr Cormann’s legacy as finance minister does not match the rhetoric he now espouses.

“He tried to abolish the very same green finance bodies he will no doubt be promoting as evidence of his green credentials for the job,” Mr Bandt wrote.

“Australia’s emissions under Mr Cormann’s watch rose and have since failed to meaningfully decrease, due to the repeal of the carbon price and the Government’s aggressive expansion of gas production.

“Mr Cormann’s government has knowingly adopted climate targets that are incompatible with the Paris Agreement goals...(and) is actively eschewing a ‘green recovery’.”

If his bid were successful, Mr Cormann would earn a tax-free salary of $383,000.