Federal Government
UP IN THE AIR: Australia’s Trade Minister has a monster-size flight-fuelled carbon footprint
There was much eye-rolling among the patriot advisers and MsP in Parliament House yesterday when the Prime Minister rose to his loafers and declared that the much-travelled Trade Minister Simon Crean would not be in the chamber this week due to important engagements out of Africa.
He’d been in Europe for at least a week prior to that too.
It is a typical VEXNEWS understatement to say that the Minister’s enthusiasm for travel has attracted the attention of his colleagues and the concern of those involved in approving such things. We will go no further than saying insiders claim Crean is the government’s most travelled minister, with even his staff accruing enough frequent flyer points with Singapore Airlines to be on the highest possible level in their loyalty scheme. The minister’s photo scrapbook is most impressive, chronicling just a few of his junkets. George Clooney’s character in ‘Up in the air’ would be impressed.
One of our Canberra snouts provoked us further by sending a copy of Minister Crean’s remarks at the Mining Indaba conference in Cape Town.
Just the usual stuff. But what’s notable when you look at the conference website is that there are no other trade ministers present. There are plenty of African ministers there, for mining and such.
He’s not listed as a keynote speaker.
Indeed a careful review of the conference schedule shows that he’s not listed at all. Please take a look for yourself.
It seems he was a last-minute addition to the schedule, with insiders familiar with the matter suggesting he used AusTrade’s clout as a sponsor of the conference to get him a speaking gig and a week in the sun in South Africa. Not our idea of a holiday but an addiction to hearing your own voice and the delights of First Class lounges was clearly enough to tempt him.
Discussion
14 comments for “UP IN THE AIR: Australia’s Trade Minister has a monster-size flight-fuelled carbon footprint”
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A case of milking it for all he can?
Capetown is nice at this time of year..Let’s go!
Will he be a c*** or will he let me stay in the Beijing embassy guesthouse when he gets his payoff as Ambassador to Beijing
The more our trade minister travels abroad the better it is for Australia. Ours is one of the least internationalised economies in the developed world and we need to change that. After years, African economies are starting to improve thanks to mining – a field where Oz firms can really make a difference. Go Simon, go!
I got my reference from Kelvin.
Now where is my money?
Creanie is sucking that tittie til it’s dry…they all do it….some have better sucking techniques.
Anytime you’d like to go on my payroll just let me know Simon.
i could of had you Victor. just ask Dad
He is the Trade Minister after all. Would you rather he not do his job and stay at home in his electorate office?
It’s actually been 6 months since the tabloids did a ‘look how much our Foriegn Minister spends on travel’ story. Any day now.
Hope he’s learnt on the diplomatic and international trade scene to use decorous language. Simon baby holds the record of being the first and only Federal MP I’ve ever heard tell a sitting Victorian MP in public to “F@&k Off!”. Some record to hold old fellow!
Cheers.
Observer
Further to above; a sitting Victorian FEMALE MP at that! Oh! Simon’s SUCH a lovely fellow!!!
Cheers,
Observer
Someone should look into the extent of politicians and public servants generating FF points attributed on flights paid for by the government
I have heard of many private trips being paid for on the Frequent flyer accounts. Trips that do not show up on the Parliaments expense accounts.
They are all into it including journalists. The various awards programs are out of control and has become institutionalized theft.
The so called discounts at the pump are a con as the price charged has been inflated top cover the costs.
Those who do not take advantage of the awards programs are left to pick up the tab.
The Tax office should close them down for being non competitive and deceitful. But they are all on the take also.
Stop picking on one of Australia’s great patriot’s. Just because your faction and its grubby preselection heist didn’t work a few years ago is no reason to pot a good bloke. Simon won that battle and now he is doing a great job as Trade Minister.
When will the Liberal party take ‘decisive action’ against Alex Hawke?
Forget Simon Crean, who I might add is actually doing something for Australia!
Alex Hawke is a whimpering whimp who should be exposed as the deceitful little turd that he is.
The membership of the party should also revolt and pass a motion of no confidence at the next state council against this guy, and move to have Nick Campbell sacked as State President too.
When the membership are told about the actions of these two, they’ll want blood.
And it wont be pretty either when the group finally find out what Hawke and Campbell have really been doing behind their back. Working to undermine them and working to do the same thing that they’ve always done. Screw over other people when the times suit them, and put in place ‘muppets’ to effectively control the party for the sake of control, and nothing else. Forget policy input. It’s virtually non-existent.
I challenge anyone to come up with a significant policy discussion paper or essay, or newspaper article, journal etc where Alex Hawke has articulated policy ideas.
I also challenge anyone to find someone who will defend this guy. Besides of the course his mate, Nick Campbell. The challenge gets greater when you know that the media campaign relating to a preselection is starting to turn against you. Even when you tell the media that you have the numbers, when in fact you don’t… A classic example is of course the ill-fated attempt of getting Mark Chan up in Bennelong. What did they do? Hawke went to every major newspaper in town, and told them straight out that they had the numbers, and what happens on the night? Mark Chan gets ‘done like a dinner’ and walks off in disgrace to chow down some asian takeaway in a box to have his dinner and reflect on whether he was duped, or whether he was stupid to believe Hawke and Campbell’s assurances. And after the fortune cookie was broken (with much misfortune that evening) he finally works out that the triumphal emperor (Hakwe) who had promised him the world, and delivered nothing short of a crushing, humiliating and demoralising defeat, was only giving him lip service, to save face. And that’s the way the cookie crumbles at the end of the day for Mark Chan. Fortune has not come his way. And if he continues to rely on the ‘terrible two’, then he’ll no doubt face yet more bad luck in the future.
It’s ok Nathaniel, we still have Marie around for another four years. Nevermind that she was once with the Group, she’s a true conservative these days.