Patricia Dasic

As a former employee of BHP Billiton, Australia’s largest company and the world’s largest mining company, there is something I would like to say to the government about its plans to spend money in this way. While I am not sure of the relative financials strengths of Tasmania and the big Australian, I feel quite confident in saying that BHP would not despatch a posse of 19 individuals from HQ on a month-long overseas trip at shareholders’ expense. As for the cars, I was responsible to a very senior BHP executive. His company car was a Ford Telstar. I think our government has lost the plot.

TWO news items this week make me wonder if the government is being as frugal with our money as we would like it to be or prioritising spending as we would prefer it to be prioritised.

First, I read on page 9 of The Mercury (18 August) that, according to Michael Aird, the government is looking to upgrade its car fleet to include such vehicles as BMWs, Audis, Volvos, Mercedes, Alfa Romeos, Fiats and Volkswagens for senior executives to pick from. (Apparently, lesser mortals have to make do with Toyotas, Holdens, Fords, Subarus and Mitsubishis.)

Hot on the heels of this came an astonishing revelation on a TV news bulletin that the government is planning to send 19 people overseas for a month on a “fact finding trip”.

I thought I surely had not heard this correctly so I looked up the station’s website. Unfortunately, I had heard correctly. What was not revealed was who these nineteen people are, where they are going, what facts they will be looking for, or how much money this is going to cost us.

As a former employee of BHP Billiton, Australia’s largest company and the world’s largest mining company, there is something I would like to say to the government about its plans to spend money in this way.

While I am not sure of the relative financials strengths of Tasmania and the big Australian, I feel quite confident in saying that BHP would not despatch a posse of 19 individuals from HQ on a month-long overseas trip at shareholders’ expense.

As for the cars, I was responsible to a very senior BHP executive. His company car was a Ford Telstar.

I think our government has lost the plot.