The Greens today successfully passed a motion in the Senate requiring the Albanese Government to produce documents on multi-million dollar VIP flights.
The order for the production of documents on the cost, dates and locations of special purpose flights as well as previous and current guidelines was passed in the Senate today with only Labor opposing. These documents must be provided no later than 13 September.
The Albanese Government, in a last-ditch attempt to hide information from the public, tried to prevent key information from being disclosed and hide behind questionable security concerns. Despite this, the motion passed with the support of every Senator in the chamber except Labor.
Senator David Shoebridge, Greens Defence spokesperson, said:
"There is a growing cult of secrecy in Canberra and especially in the Defence Department and this was a moment to push back against it.
"Senior Ministers are taking these VIP flights at an eye-watering cost at a time when everyone else is cutting back, Defence Minister Marles has cost $3.6 million alone.
"Transparency is a vital check on excess and essential for good government.
"The official line is that Defence won't reveal where MPs flew on VIP flights in 2021 and 2022 because it's a security risk that might reveal "pattern of life" information.
"These are not meant to be multi-million dollar taxis, they are meant to be special purpose flights, flights only taken for a special purpose. If there is a repeated pattern being shown then that's a warning bell about potential misuse.
"You have to wonder if the real threat to security is in fact a threat to the job security of anyone who took advantage of the lack of transparency.
"We look forward to the public seeing the amended guidelines and details on their multi-million dollar flights next week."
