Paul Sheehan tells us what our government spends our money on:
Already $2 million has been spent flying 260 asylum seekers from Christmas Island to Nauru, an average cost of $7600 per person, or four times the price of an economy round-trip fare from Australia to London.
The government paid the Tasmanian ambulance service $543,000 for what turned out to be 11 trips to the Pontville detention centre near Hobart, a cost of $49,363 per trip.
Other lowlights from the Senate estimate hearings:
After 3½ years, the NBN Co had signed 6400 households to its network, a rate of five households a day, even though the company has one employee for every 15 customers.
Fair Work Australia has spent $1.8 million on outside legal and accounting advice for its investigation into the Health Services Union. This does not include the cost of the department’s legal action against the MP Craig Thomson for his alleged role in the widespread rorting of union funds while he was an official with the HSU.
The Home Insulation Program, infamous as the pink batts scheme, has cost $2.15 billion in installation and clean-up costs, a wild blow-out in government forecasts.
The Attorney-General’s Department used 19 lawyers and spent $730,000 to settle and pay $50,000 in damages to a former aide to Slipper, all while the Attorney-General was dismissing the case as vexatious.
Officials from the Department of Defence confirmed that the $200 billion cost of acquiring the capabilities outlined in the government’s 2009 defence white paper is almost completely unfunded.
Spin: the Department of Industry spent $156,000 trying to prevent The Australian Financial Review from publishing details of government subsidies to the union-dominated car industry.
More spin: the Department of Broadband prepared articles extolling the benefits of the national broadband network and sent them to 22 ”NBN champions” urging them to get the articles published under their own names.
The Department of Climate is spending $20.5 million on a fit-out of its new headquarters building in Canberra, including a stainless steel executive wine cabinet and Nespresso machines in all eight staff kitchens.
It was written in a recent newspaper that Swan has an attitude that could be summarised as ” We will get ours”.
The plan seems to be going well then.
murph the surf.
22 Oct 12 at 6:43 am
Good to see that they’ve got a handle on the budget.
nilk
22 Oct 12 at 6:43 am
These criminal lobodomee pardee and greenfilth squandermonkeys should be arrested, tried, have their assets and superannuation confiscated and be given massive fines and lengthy jail terms.
Then legislation needs to be enacted to ensure such criminal waste and profligacy can’t occur again.
Not. Good. Enough.
Rabz
22 Oct 12 at 7:22 am
I don’t even understand how this is possible without some sort of stupid government law granting a monopoly to ambulance companies. I’m pretty sure there’d be paramedics around somewhere willing to work for less than $20,000 an hour.
Yobbo
22 Oct 12 at 7:23 am
Sack. Them. All.
Rabz
22 Oct 12 at 7:24 am
Why fly these criminals to Nauru? They enjoy sailing, so take them in bulk in an old passenger ship (ferry?) . They’d enjpy that and it’d be considerably cheaper, Eh?
Dexter Rous
22 Oct 12 at 8:56 am
Why fly these criminals to Nauru? They enjoy sailing, so take them in bulk in an old passenger ship (ferry?) . They’d enjpy that and it’d be considerably cheaper, Eh?
Dexter Rous
22 Oct 12 at 8:56 am
Why FLY them to Nauru? They love sailing, so bung ‘em on an old passenger ship (Ferry?), in bulk. Got to cost a lot less. Arrange a budget airline system ( they have to pay for on board food, etc)
What worries me is that now the people smugglers are apparently charging $20,000 a head, I can see a couple of thousand of these crims appearing over the horizon on a old cruise ship
Dexter Rous
22 Oct 12 at 9:05 am
Why FLY them to Nauru? They love sailing, so bung ‘em on an old passenger ship (Ferry?), in bulk. Got to cost a lot less. Arrange a budget airline system ( they have to pay for on board food, etc)
What worries me is that now the people smugglers are apparently charging $20,000 a head, I can see a couple of thousand of these crims appearing over the horizon on a old cruise ship
Dexter Rous
22 Oct 12 at 9:05 am
Why FLY them to Nauru? They love sailing, so bung ‘em on an old passenger ship (Ferry?), in bulk. Got to cost a lot less. Arrange a budget airline system ( they have to pay for on board food, etc)
What worries me is that now the people smugglers are apparently charging $20,000 a head, I can see a couple of thousand of these crims appearing over the horizon on a old cruise ship
Dexter Rous
22 Oct 12 at 9:05 am
Why FLY them to Nauru? They love sailing, so bung ‘em on an old passenger ship (Ferry?), in bulk. Got to cost a lot less. Arrange a budget airline system ( they have to pay for on board food, etc)
What worries me is that now the people smugglers are apparently charging $20,000 a head, I can see a couple of thousand of these crims appearing over the horizon on a old cruise ship
Dexter Rous
22 Oct 12 at 9:05 am
I’m with you Rabz. Just think of the pensions and perks we will have to pay these scum – Gillard Swan Albanese etc. With Gold cards free travel a car and driver and an office with staff…..For life!
Come the revolution…..
Sirocco
22 Oct 12 at 9:12 am
I think the Department of Climate Change will be gone by the end of next year. Good time to pick up a cheap wine cabinet and Nespresso machines.
Sirocco
22 Oct 12 at 9:21 am
Labor’s tax and waste governments:
http://www.dailytelegraph.com.au/news/national/lnp-government-adds-up-the-cost-of-labors-state-waste/story-fndo2iwh-1226499668247
Ivan Denisovich
22 Oct 12 at 10:17 am
Make the offices alcohol-free zones. Then they can admire their expensive wine cabinets they can never use. Poetic justice.
The Beer Whisperer
22 Oct 12 at 11:32 am
Yobbo
Having worked detention I can only say peoples minds would explode at some of the waste.
A RFDS flight from Port Hedland to Perth was (rumoured) to have cost the department well over $150,000. (the flight was justifyable the bloke was seroiusly injured)
We used to pick up arrivals in mothballed busses from one of the major lines, clapped out and in bad condition, but let out at phenominal rates.
The most profitale Rectavision agent in Australia back around 2000?
Derby.
For foam mattresses they were charging $300 plus.
At one stage there were 2 truckloads a fortnight being brought in. Detainees would burn/ wreck them.
Port Hedland glaziers kept a bloke on nearly full time replacing windows at Port hedland, business slowed quite a bit when perspex was put in though. Only problem, perspex makes a great knife, I was bailed up with one once in the mess.
Waste is phenominal. People really have no idea.
thefrollickingmole
22 Oct 12 at 11:33 am
Simple, Mole. Don’t replace the glass or the perspex or the mattresses.
Let them enjoy the climate as they sleep on the floor.
nilk
22 Oct 12 at 12:02 pm
nilk
I wish
Then theres a riot because the block is hot, central air con means everyone suffers. Its easy for troublemakers to cause riots, smash windows, wreck common eqipment, then kick off over it.
Hell we had a riot once because the linen handed out to new arrivals wasnt new (It had been laundered and was clean).
thefrollickingmole
22 Oct 12 at 12:15 pm
What’s wrong with the old Nissen Hut? You can’t damage it or burn it down. Heck, invited migrants used to live in them and pay for the privelege.
old bloke
22 Oct 12 at 3:07 pm
Yeah, see, I just don’t get that.
Cost of a 4 seater Cessna: Around $70,000
Paying a doctor to be on call for a year: Less than $80,000.
Fuel from Perth-Port Headland: About $400.
I just don’t see how 1 flight can possibly cost $150,000.
Yobbo
22 Oct 12 at 6:42 pm
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