The Prime Minister and the big blue bus (he didn’t use)

by Elizabeth Minter | Jul 16, 2020 | Deceptive Conduct, Liberal Party, QED

Deceptive Conduct | Liberal Party | QED

Scott Morrison and his bus

The Prime Minister and the big blue bus (he didn’t use)

November 2018

Prime Minister Scott Morrison and his big blue bus burnt rubber across Queensland in a four-day tour of marginal seats, but the PM wasn’t actually riding on the bus.

As Buzzfeed noted, while the “ScoMo Express” was roaring up the Bruce Highway from Cairns to Townsville, the prime minister and his entourage were flying between towns in a Royal Australia Air Force VIP jet.

Morrison’s office told Fairfax the Liberal Party was paying for the bus and petrol, but taxpayers were being charged for the VIP plane and hotel rooms.

What's a rort?

Conflicts of Interest

Redirecting funding to pet hobbies; offering jobs to the boys without a proper tender process; secretly bankrolling candidates in elections; taking up private sector jobs in apparent breach of parliament’s code of ethics, the list goes on.

Deceptive Conduct

Claiming that greenhouse gas emissions have gone down when the facts clearly show otherwise; breaking the law on responding to FoI requests; reneging on promised legislation; claiming credit for legislation that doesn’t exist; accepting donations that breach rules. You get the drift of what behaviour this category captures.

Election Rorts

In the months before the last election, the Government spent hundreds of millions of dollars of Australian taxpayers’ money on grants for sports, community safety, rural development programs and more. Many of these grants were disproportionally awarded to marginal seats, with limited oversight and even less accountability.

Dubious Travel Claims

Ministerial business that just happens to coincide with a grand final or a concert; electorate business that must be conducted in prime tourist locations, or at the same time as party fundraisers. All above board, maybe, but does it really pass the pub test? Or does it just reinforce the fact that politicians take the public for mugs?

The Prime Minister and the big blue bus (he didn’t use)

The Prime Minister and the big blue bus (he didn’t use)

What's a rort?

Conflicts of Interest

Deceptive Conduct

Election Rorts

Dubious Travel Claims

Thank you!

Thank you!

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