Document containing details of $62,000-trip taken by Child Protection Minister Katrine Hildyard kept secret by state government
A document containing details of a $62,000-trip taken by Child Protection Minister Katrine Hildyard has been kept secret by the state government.
SA News
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A document containing details of a $62,000-trip taken by Child Protection Minister Katrine Hildyard and two others to the UK has been kept secret by the state government on the grounds of Cabinet confidentiality.
But the government said it has provided the opposition with all relevant documents relating to the trip, including receipts.
Child Protection Department chief executive Jackie Bray and a ministerial adviser joined Ms Hildyard on the trip to Edinburgh, Glasgow and Leeds in September 2023.
The opposition requested a copy of the final itinerary under Freedom of Information (FOI) but access was denied because the itinerary “references Cabinet documents”.
Ms Bray told parliament’s Budget and Finance committee last week that she was “not aware of that (FOI) request or, indeed, any such action after that request”.
She said, of the $62,343 total cost of the trip, about $39,000 was spent on flights, $17,000 on accommodation and $7000 on internal travel – mostly by train.
The figure also included petty cash spent during the trip.
Opposition child protection spokesman Josh Teague said the FOI refusal was “unexplained and unsatisfactory”.
“As it is, the Department for Child Protection is a secret sector of government, but it makes no sense that documents around an international trip involving Katrine Hildyard can’t be released and no explanation has been provided for the Minister’s relying on Cabinet in Confidence as grounds for refusal,” he said.
A government spokeswoman said Ms Hildyard had been transparent.
“The Minister has provided all relevant documents relating to this trip and the opposition was comprehensively briefed on the Minister’s meetings and engagements on the trip back in January,” she said.
Ms Hildyard made the trip to attend meetings and present at the International Society for Prevention of Child Abuse and Neglect Congress in Edinburgh.
It came amid revelations on Tuesday that federal Employment Relations Minister Tony Burke forked out $57,000 of taxpayer cash in a four-day US spending spree, where he had lunch and dinner with the Australian ambassador and attended a meeting with a US Senator.
The trip, taken between July 11 and 15 in 2022, was for the 30th Australian American Leadership Dialogue (AALD).
But for Mr Burke the costly trip was shockingly light on engagements despite costing twice as much as Defence Minister Richard Marles’ expenses for the same visit.
His eye watering bill included $44,000 on business class flights for him and a staff member, more than $8000 on hire cars — including having one car waiting on hand for 10 hours — and about $4000 on accommodation.
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Originally published as Document containing details of $62,000-trip taken by Child Protection Minister Katrine Hildyard kept secret by state government
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