Impact of Education Department's $12,000 Fine Dining Meetings
The Federal Education Department has come under fire for spending more than $12,000 of taxpayers' money on fine dining meetings at expensive restaurants across Australia and South Korea. The department's secretary, Tony Cook, has apologised for the "flagrant waste" and said the hospitality policy has been revised to set expenditure limits. However, some critics have questioned how such lavish spending was allowed in the first place and what accountability measures are in place to prevent it from happening again.
According to the answers to questions on notice, the department's staff had splurged $12,637.31 at fine dining venues over six months, with an average cost of $81 per person and a highest of $171 per person. Some of the restaurants included Mezzalira and Courgette in Canberra, Ginger Indian in Sydney and Mabu Mabu in Melbourne. The meetings were held for various purposes, such as stakeholder engagement, international collaboration and staff recognition. However, the department did not provide any evidence of the outcomes or benefits of these meetings.
The Shadow Education Minister, Senator Sarah Henderson, slammed the department for its "restaurant rorts" and said holding a meeting should be in a meeting room with a cup of tea and a biscuit. She also called for an investigation into the spending and the culture of the department. "How could you run a department which allows this sort of flagrant waste of taxpayers' dollars?" she asked Mr Cook at a parliamentary hearing.
Mr Cook admitted that the department had let the taxpayers down and said the new hospitality policy would reflect the Australian Taxation Office travel allowance rates, which would mean that most of the restaurants listed would be out of range. He also said the Education Minister, Jason Clare, had personally raised the matter with him and that he had taken steps to ensure staff compliance with the policy. "It should not have happened, we should not have been utilising taxpayers' money in those sorts of expenses," he said.
The scandal has raised concerns over the transparency and accountability of the public service, especially in times of economic hardship and budget constraints. It has also damaged the reputation and credibility of the department, which is responsible for delivering quality education and skills for all Australians. The department will need to restore public trust and confidence by demonstrating that it is using taxpayers' money wisely and effectively.
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