7 years ago
CORMANN’S $122M WASTE “ENTIRELY INAPPROPRIATE”
JIM CHALMERS MP
Mathias Cormann can no longer ignore demands to explain his decision to waste $122 million of taxpayers’ money after being called out by one of Australia’s most respected top former public servants.
Mike Keating AC, a former Secretary of the Department of Finance and Department of Prime Minister and Cabinet, has slammed Cormann’s use of the “Advance to the Finance Minister” provision to fund the harmful, divisive and non-binding marriage equality postal survey:
“...it would seem that the government is seeking to use the Advance to the Minister of Finance to avoid having to gain parliamentary approval of its actions. To me that seems to be an entirely inappropriate use of the Advance to the Minister of Finance.”
(Michael Keating, Pearls and Irritations, 17 August 2017)
Dr Keating goes on to question “both the policy making processes of the Turnbull Government, and its respect for the institution of parliament and the basic tenets of parliamentary democracy”.
We see today that instead of addressing Dr Keating’s concerns, the Finance Minister has refused to explain what advice he had received to rip the money out of the Budget without parliamentary approval.
The Turnbull Government is treating Australian taxpayers like fools.
This money is being wasted at the same time as gross debt has reached half-a-trillion dollars for the first time ever and the deficit for this year is 10 times bigger than in the Liberals’ first Budget.
The Turnbull Government is holding thousands of couples hostage to the internal divisions in the Liberal Party and Malcolm Turnbull’s failure to lead.
Minister Cormann should come out today and explain why he is wasting $122 million on a harmful and divisive postal survey and on what advice.