Peter Dutton’s $36k flight to Tassie during Braddon by-election in spotlight over grants claims

Peter Dutton paid $36,000 to charter ‘a luxury VIP plane’ to Tasmania to announce government grants for CCTV systems during the Braddon by-election, a move his competitors are calling out as ‘pork barrelling’.

PETER Dutton spent $36,000 for an RAAF jet flight to Tasmania to announce government grants for CCTV systems during the Braddon by-election — a move his competitors are calling out as ‘pork barrelling’.

The Home Affairs Minister announced the two grants for councils in Braddon, worth $194,000 in total, in July 2018 — a month before applications for the third round of the Safer Communities Fund opened, the Sydney Morning Herald reports.

Federal Labor has accused Mr Dutton of pork-barrelling using the fund, which provides money for security cameras and safety lighting upgrades.

Home Affairs Minister Peter Dutton. Picture: Josh Woning

“Peter Dutton wasn’t making communities safer, he was making Liberal and marginal seats safer for the Liberal Party,” Labor frontbencher Kristina Keneally said in a statement today.

“Nowhere is this clearer than in the Braddon by-election campaign, where Peter Dutton flew a luxury VIP plane to Tasmania at taxpayer expense to stand next to the Liberal candidate to announce two grants from the Safer Communities Fund, even though the guidelines for the fund hadn’t been established and the application process hadn’t even opened yet.”

The latest development comes after reports last week Mr Dutton allocated grants in the Safer Communities Fund to 53 projects, the majority of which went to Coalition or marginal seats, ahead of the last election.

He was reportedly given a list by the Home Affairs department of the top 70 projects to share in $17.5 million, and another list of 211 projects that had passed the selection criteria to pick 15 from as reserves.

The minister selected 53 from the second list of ranked projects, rather than 15, and adjusted 19 projects from the recommended list and six from the reserves so all of the projects could be funded.

Labor senator Kristina Keneally in Parliament House today. Picture: Gary Ramage

A spokeswoman for Mr Dutton told the SMH the project funding decisions were “made consistent with the relevant rules and guidelines”.

She also said his travel to Tasmania was approved in accordance with the special purpose aircraft guidelines.

“Minister Dutton had a number of official commitments in the Burnie region which necessitated his travel including presiding over a citizenship ceremony in his capacity as the Minister for Immigration and Border Protection and meeting with community leaders regarding public safety concerns,” the spokeswoman said.

Defence Department documents show then-Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull and then-Opposition leader Bill Shorten also charged taxpayers thousands of dollars for RAAF flights to Tasmania during the Braddon by-election campaign.

Mr Turnbull took several trips to the state on the RAAF jets, including flights that cost $34,960, $14,260, $15,180 and $17,020.

Mr Shorten took two flights to the state which cost $10,580 and $23,460.

Senior ministers including Christopher Pyne, Michael McCormack and Angus Taylor also took RAAF flights to Tasmania during the campaign in June and July 2018.