Flying on a VIP jet: Australian government officials suspected of misusing the budget

The Ministry of Defence has stopped publishing passenger lists and making public the use of business jets by politicians. In this case, they cite potential security concerns.

Freedom of information documents also show that the defence ministry has stopped providing passenger information to the spending watchdog, the Independent Parliamentary Expenditure Office. This has been happening since December 2021, The Guardian reports.

According to the publication, it seems that since then the Ministry of Defence has stopped providing passenger manifests for flights to Ipea.

It is noted that the department is primarily responsible for overseeing the use of its jet fleet, preventing abuse and ensuring that politicians and their staff use them in accordance with its instructions.

Ipea, an economic research institute, is playing a key role in recovering funds from MPs' offices that would have had to pay out of pocket for the use of an expensive jet fleet, believed to cost around $4,600 per hour.

Ipea will recoup the funds directly from the MP's office travel budget, where they used the planes to transport constituency staff, spouses of non-officials and dependents around the country.

According to the publication, FoI documents show that this is a common occurrence. In 2019-20 and 2020-21 alone, Ipea billed MPs more than $38,000 for travel after reviewing passenger manifests provided by the defence.

Sources say that the latest information received from the Ministry of Defence on the use of its jet fleet dates back to 2021.

It is noted that the department has also withheld information on the use of jets from the public since August 2021. The latest information concerned those that were made between July and December 2020.

Earlier, the agency stated that it was reviewing its practice of publishing flight details for security reasons. The review was conducted jointly with the Australian Federal Police and the Department of Finance.

About the abuse of private jets in the government

As a reminder, in 2020, The Guardian exposed the then Deputy Prime Minister Michael McCormack for taking a private RAAF jet to Melbourne before the Melbourne Cup. A spokeswoman for McCormack said at the time that the independent parliamentary expenses body had confirmed that the travel claims were in line with the rules.

The RAAF aircraft was also reportedly used by the Minister for Internal Affairs, Peter Dutton, who was planning to fly to Tasmania before announcing grants for CCTV systems for two councils during the 2018 Braddon by-election campaign. A spokesman for Dutton confirmed that the flights were in accordance with instructions.