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Tourism Australia staff caught spending $140k of taxpayers' money on personal travel

Three Tourism Australia employees have been fired after spending $137,441 of taxpayers' money for personal travel expenses, with the National Anti-Corruption Commission (NACC) called in to investigate. Tourism Australia is the government agency in charge of promoting Australia's tourism industry abroad. Tourism Australia chief executive Phillipa Harrison appeared before a Senate committee in Canberra on Tuesday and confirmed the breach of the agency’s travel policy. The spending had been uncovered in October 2023 when the agency's own staff detected the misuse of funds and “immediately reported and escalated” it. “The three employees undertook personal travel that was booked through Tourism Australia’s corporate travel agent and was invoiced to Tourism Australia,” she told the committee. “Tourism Australia demanded that the three individuals repay the full amount of this travel.” She added that the full amount was repaid to Tourism Australia last December, and the three employees have since been sacked. Harrison also said that Deloitte was hired to do an extensive audit dating back to 2021 “to ensure that we understood the full extent of the issue” but “no further instances of wrongdoing were identified”. “Off the back of the audit I have overseen a strengthening of our travel policy processes to ensure the conduct cannot be repeated,” she said. Tourism Australia have referred the matter to the NACC and are awaiting a response. When asked by New South Wales Nationals senator Ross Cadell about the identities of the staff and whether the agency's chief financial officer was among those involved, she replied: "The NACC has advised me that I'm unable to provide the further details on the roles and the people involved until they have finished their investigations." "To do so may compromise current or potential investigations, and prematurely impact the reputations of individuals in circumstances where the legislation enacted by parliament intends to avoid that by requiring that investigations, generally, be conducted in private and that information concerning them is not to be disclosed." She took a question on notice about how many trips were booked by the staff and the destinations for the travel. Her refusal to answer the questions caught the senator off-guard and he said: “I am shooketh, shaken, by not being able to ask these questions,” before calling a short suspension to discuss the concerns. On return, she officially claimed “public interest immunity” and was told she had to outline the situation in writing. "I have to say, this is the first time in my experience where a direction from the NACC has directed an official not to make a public statement," Tourism and Trade Minister Don Farrell said. "This does present some significant issues which I myself would like to get clarified. "You and I both voted for this legislation and obviously this is how it's being applied. The witness, obviously, has to comply with the direction of the NACC, she has no choice." The matter has not been referred to authorities. Image: Tourism Australia/ news.com.au

Travel Trouble

Super has become a taxpayer-funded inheritance scheme for the rich. Here’s how to fix it – and save billions

Australia’s A$3.3 trillion superannuation system is supposed to boost people’s retirement incomes. The government says as much in its <a href="https://treasury.gov.au/sites/default/files/2023-02/c2023-361383.pdf">proposed leglislated objective</a> for superannuation. The system is supported by billions of dollars of tax breaks each year, ostensibly to that end. But there’s just one problem – increasingly, much of what is saved is never spent. Our new report, <a href="https://grattan.edu.au/report/super-savings-practical-policies-for-fairer-superannuation-and-a-stronger-budget">Super savings: Practical policies for fairer superannuation and a stronger budget</a>, points out that without an overhaul, super tax breaks are set to do little more than boost the inheritances of Australians with well-off parents. Super contributions and super earnings are both taxed more lightly than other income. These tax breaks cost the budget about $45 billion (2% of Australia’s gross domestic product, or GDP) each year. Treasury predicts that figure will hit 3% of GDP by 2060, and that the cost of super tax breaks will overtake the cost of the age pension by as soon as 2036. Super tax breaks are also unfair: about two-thirds go to the top 20% of earners. This means the tax breaks provide the biggest boost to the super accounts of high earners, who will almost all have a comfortable retirement regardless, and who tend to save the same regardless of the tax rate imposed. The wealthiest 10% of Australians get a bigger boost to their retirement savings from super tax breaks than poorer Australians get from the age pension. But much of what is saved for retirement never actually gets spent in retirement. Earlier research by <a href="https://grattan.edu.au/news/balancing-act/">Grattan Institute</a> and the <a href="https://treasury.gov.au/sites/default/files/2021-02/p2020-100554-udcomplete-report.pdf">2020 Retirement Income Review</a> found that, for a variety of reasons, spending falls substantially during retirement. Retirees often end up leaving much of their nest egg untouched, bequeathing it to their children. This means billions of dollars in super tax breaks simply end up boosting the inheritances received by the children of well-off parents. It makes super a taxpayer-funded inheritance scheme. This problem is set to get worse. With the rate of compulsory superannuation legislated to rise from 10.5% of wages to 12% by 2025, future generations of retirees are set to retire with even larger nest eggs that they will never spend. Treasury projects that by 2059, one in every three dollars paid out of the super system will be a bequest, up from one in every five today. Big inheritances boost the jackpot from the birth lottery. They help richer children get richer. Among the Australians who received an inheritance over the past decade, the wealthiest fifth received on average <a href="https://grattan.edu.au/news/the-great-australian-nightmare/">three times</a> as much as the poorest fifth. To help reverse this, the government needs to rein in the super tax breaks. <h2>How to make super fairer</h2> The government’s policy, <a href="https://ministers.treasury.gov.au/ministers/jim-chalmers-2022/media-releases/superannuation-tax-breaks">announced in February</a>, of taxing the earnings on balances bigger than $3 million at 30%, instead of 15%, will help. But the threshold ought to be lowered to $2 million. Balances between $2 million and $3 million are very unlikely to be spent in retirement, so winding back tax breaks on earnings on balances bigger than $2 million would further wind back taxpayer-funded bequests. And there’s more. Currently, many wealthier Australians receive a larger tax break per dollar contributed to super than many low income earners. Yet low earners have more to be compensated for. Putting money into their super cuts their age pension in retirement, and they live shorter lives, meaning less time to enjoy their super in retirement. The pre-tax contributions of people earning more than $220,000 a year should be taxed at 35%, instead of the 30% charged to those earning more than $250,000 currently. That would still offer a 10% tax break on super contributions for high earners (given the top marginal rate of 45%) and at least a 15% break on the contributions of low and middle earners. And the annual pre-tax contributions cap should be lowered from $27,500 to $20,000. Contributions above this level tend to be made by people close to retirement with already-high balances. <h2>Tax earnings in retirement the same as while working</h2> On the earnings side, the tax-free earnings enjoyed by retirees on their first $1.7 million ($1.9 million from 1 July this year) of their super should go. Superannuation earnings in retirement should be taxed at 15%, the same as superannuation earnings before retirement. This would save the budget at least $5.3 billion a year, and much more in future, and make taxing super more simple. More than 70% of this revenue would come from the top 20% of retirees. The top 10% would pay an extra $7,000 to $7,500 a year on average, whereas the poorest half would no more than $200 more each. Both sides of politics say they agree that super shouldn’t be a taxpayer-funded inheritance scheme. But there’s a long way to go before that vision is reality. Image credits: Getty Images This article originally appeared on <a href="https://theconversation.com/super-has-become-a-taxpayer-funded-inheritance-scheme-for-the-rich-heres-how-to-fix-it-and-save-billions-202948" target="_blank" rel="noopener">The Conversation</a>.

Retirement Income

How Centrelink-scamming nurse rorted $100k in taxpayer money

A nurse who falsely claimed she was a single parent while still being married in order to get Centrelink payments has been jailed for three months. Nicole Dunjey, from Pimpama on the Gold Coast, married her boyfriend in 2010 and let Centrelink know as required. However, when she realised that her payments as a single parent would stop, she called Centrelink back and informed them that her and her husband had separated. Over the next six years, the nurse received $99,662.08 in single parent payments, reported the <a rel="noopener" href="https://www.goldcoastbulletin.com.au/news/crime-court/nicole-dunjey-lied-for-six-years-about-being-married-to-get-single-parenting-payment/news-story/55b6372f4c2f40ab825ba624e8634056" target="_blank">Gold Coast Bulletin</a>. It was only after her and her husband applied jointly for a loan at NAB in 2016 that Dunjey was busted. The ATO quickly discovered that the pair shared the same address, had gone on a holiday to New Zealand together and that her husband was noted as her next of kin. The woman pleaded guilty to dishonestly gaining financial advantage. However, Dunjey claimed that she did it to support her child as the amount her husband earned wasn’t enough. Her husband earned $400,000 over the six years of their marriage The judge said that her offending was “persistent and deliberate” and ordered the nurse to pay back the money. She has been jailed until December 11, when she will be released on a $1,000 good behaviour bond.

Money & Banking

“National disgrace”: Aussie taxpayers fork out $40 million to expand irrigation in the Murray-Darling Basin

Australian taxpayers have given a large corporation more than $40 million, which has enabled it to expand irrigation in the Murray-Darling Basin under an environmental scheme that has been labelled a national disgrace. Four Corners revealed that more than $4 billion in Commonwealth Funds have been handed over to irrigators. This has allowed them to expand their operations and use more water under the $5.6 billion water infrastructure scheme. The scheme is intended to recover water for the rivers by giving farmers money to build water-saving infrastructure in return for some of their water rights. Some beneficiaries of the scheme are foreign-owned corporations according to <a href="https://www.abc.net.au/news/2019-07-08/taxpayers-helping-fund-murray-darling-basin-expansion/11279468">the ABC.</a> Maryanne Slattery, a former director at the Murray-Darling Basin Authority says that it’s horrifying a scheme that’s designed to help the environment has allowed irrigators to use more water. "That program was supposed to reduce the amount of water that was going to irrigation, when it's actually increased the opportunities for irrigation … all subsidised by taxpayers," she said. "I think Australian taxpayers will be really shocked to find out that that money is actually going to foreign investors as well." UNSW river ecologist Professor Richard Kingsford has been studying the Murrumbidgee River for more than 30 years. He has said that the new dams are trapping water that would have otherwise flowed downstream into habitats and farming communities in the Murray-Darling Basin. "I find that astounding. I mean, why are we building these large dams for private gain at public cost?" he said. "Essentially it increases the take from the river system and ultimately decreases the amount of water in the river. That to me is where, in fact, we may be seeing more water taken out of the rivers than water savings." Maryanne Slattery says that the region is unsuitable for dams because of the high rate of evaporation. "You just see dam after dam after dam, these massive on-farm dams, in a place that is as flat as a table, that just should not have dams," said Ms Slattery, who is now a senior water researcher at the Australia Institute. "And then when you realise they're being paid for by the Commonwealth, under a supposedly environmental program, that's just horrifying."

Domestic Travel

New ATO phone scam swindling hundreds of thousands from Aussie taxpayers

It seems there’s new, more sophisticated phone scams cropping up all the time, and this latest one is scarily genuine-sounding. The Australian Taxation Office has issued a warning about a new scam whereby criminals impersonate the ATO. The hoax has raked in almost $190,000 from victims in just two months. The scam involves a three-way phone call where the fraudster rings a victim pretending to be from the tax office claiming that a large bill needs to be paid immediately. When the victim challenges the claim or is sceptical, the scammer calls an “associate” to prove authenticity. That person then pretends to be the victim's tax agent and confirms a bill needs to be paid. In some instances, the scammers will become aggressive and threaten legal or police action if the bill is not paid. ATO Assistant Commissioner Kath Anderson said scammers are taking advantage of the time of year. "One recent example had a taxpayer unfortunately thinking the telephone conversation was legitimate, and ended up withdrawing thousands of dollars in cash and depositing it into a Bitcoin ATM, fearing the police had a warrant out for his arrest," said Anderson. "We are at the half-way point of tax time, and we’ve seen an increase in reports in recent months. "In September we typically see these high volumes continue, so we are warning the community to be on the lookout for things that don’t look or feel quite right." Anderson said scammers weren’t just looking to get money from people but also a taxpayer's personal data. “Scammers aren’t just looking at getting a quick fix through an upfront payment. They are increasingly looking to get your personal information, and once they gain this data they can sell it or use it to impersonate you for their own financial gain," warned Anderson. "One taxpayer received an email which appeared to be from the ATO. The email requested her to click a link to download her BAS for lodgement. “Clicking the link ran malicious software which gave the scammer access to all data on her computer. "She later found that her credit rating had been severely impacted as the scammers racked up large unpaid debts in her and her business’ name." Anderson reminds people that while the ATO does use emails, phone calls and SMS messages to contact taxpayers, it will never use aggressive or rude behaviour or threaten you with immediate arrest, jail or deportation. "Australians are generally pretty good at identifying scams but there has been a distinct increase in the level of scam sophistication," said Anderson. "The cloned web addresses linked to scam emails are sometimes difficult to distinguish from ato.gov.au and the compromise of your personal information via this method may remain undetected with impacts only realised many months later."

Legal

Number of Aussies on welfare soars – at HUGE cost to taxpayers

There are nearly one million Australians on long-term welfare, <a rel="noopener" href="https://data.gov.au/dataset/dss-payment-demographic-data" target="_blank">new data</a> released by the Department of Social Services shows. There are 765,424 Australians who have been on welfare payments for longer than five years, which is an increase of 121,000 people from 2013. These payments include Newstart, Youth Allowance and the Disability Support Pension. New South Wales has the most total people on welfare payments, with more than 500,000 people receiving fortnightly benefits. The cost of welfare to the taxpayers has risen $40 billion in the past 10 years. According to the most recent report from the <a rel="noopener" href="https://www.aihw.gov.au/reports/australias-welfare/australias-welfare-2017/contents/summary" target="_blank">Australian Institute of Health and Welfare</a>, an estimated $157 billion was spent on welfare in 2015–16, up from $117 billion in 2006–07. Social Services Minister Dan Tehan told the <a rel="noopener" href="https://www.heraldsun.com.au/news/victoria/longterm-welfare-rises-in-victoria/news-story/116f3dded5872e94e529c86d029b1cb7" target="_blank">Herald Sun </a>that although welfare costs taxpayers billions of dollars, it was an “even greater cost to the people who are stuck on welfare”. “The children of welfare dependent parents can pay a heavy price,” he said. “We know that children who grow up in unemployed households can have a lifetime of disadvantage. After record jobs growth, the proportion of working-age Australians now dependent on welfare has fallen to 15.1 per cent — the lowest in more than 25 years.” Data also shows thousands of people being forced off the Disability Support Pension and onto the dole, due to changes Disability Support Pension eligibility which came into effect in 2012. There has been a fall of 73,899 in DSP recipients over past five years, but a 54,505 rise in the Newstart payment. The DSP is no longer awarded on a diagnosis alone, but also on whether the disability affects an individual's ability to work. Under legislation, medical conditions must be permanent, fully diagnosed, treated and stabilised before the DSP would be issued. Further legislation implemented by the Turnbull Government effective from July 1 is designed to crack down on people taking advantage of the system, including those exploiting the system while having pending criminal charges or falsely reporting job applications.

Money & Banking

Accused pedophile’s legal bills paid for by Australian taxpayers

A Melbourne man accused of raping and murdering a 12-year-old girl in the Philippines has received $500,000 of Australian taxpayer money for his legal bills. Peter Gerard Scully – who has been charged with 75 offences, including abduction, rape, and murder, as well as allegedly making child exploitation and torture videos of babies and toddlers – has been given the half a million dollars for legal aid under a federal government program, reports The Australian. He has denied all charges. The Serious Criminal Matters Scheme provides legal funding for Australians facing serious charges overseas. It is only available to Australians facing more than 20 years imprisonment or the death penalty and who cannot afford the costs of a lawyer. Notable past recipients include Schapelle Corby, Cassie Sainsbury, David Hicks and Bali Nine members Myuran Sukumaran and Andrew Chan. Attorney-General Christian Porter said the decision to fund Scully's legal defence was made when his predecessor George Brandis was in charge. "I had already asked my department for information on the scheme, including this particular case, with a view to considering changes to the scheme, so that persons in circumstances similar to Mr Scully, or those with histories of sexual offending and ¬relevant convictions, would no longer be eligible," he told <a href="https://www.9news.com.au/world/2018/03/13/06/53/peter-scully-accused-pedophile-legal-bills-footed-by-australian-taxpayers" target="_blank">Nine News</a>. Scully is believed to have left Australia for the Philippines in 2011, fleeing from fraud charges in Victoria. When he was arrested in the Philippines, two teenage girls were allegedly found naked and shackled in another of his apartments. Scully's alleged crimes were so gruesome that Philippines prosecutors pushed to reinstate the death penalty. Although capital punishment has been restored for serious drug offenders in the nation, Scully will not face execution. It took a global manhunt of Dutch, Australian and Filipino police to track down Scully in 2015 after an Australian accent was recognised in one of the abuse videos.

Money & Banking

Julie Bishop claims $32K in taxpayer-funded 'family travel' for long-term boyfriend

Foreign Minister Julie Bishop’s use of taxpayer funds has <a href="/travel/international-travel/2017/10/julie-bishop-under-fire-over-expenses/" target="_blank">once again</a> been called into question, with a <a href="https://www.smh.com.au/politics/federal/julie-bishop-defends-omission-of-boyfriend-from-parliamentary-records-20180223-p4z1hd.html" target="_blank">Sydney Morning Herald report</a> suggesting she has claimed $32,000 worth of public money for her long-term partner David Panton to join her in her trips around the country between 2015 and 2017. Bishop named Panton as her designated family member in 2015, entitling him to free domestic flights and Comcar rides as part of MPs’ family reunification allowance. However, because property developer Panton is not Bishop’s spouse (nor are they in a “de facto” relationship), the Foreign Minister has never declared any claims for him on the parliamentary register of interests. As a result, unlike MPs with husbands or wives, information regarding Panton’s income, savings, trust funds, loans, mortgages, properties, shareholdings, directorships, gifts and hospitality valued at $300 or more can remain secret. In the first six months of 2015, it’s alleged that the Sydney-based Panton claimed close to $10,000 in flights and car rides, including over $3,000 worth of flights to and from Perth, where Bishop lives. “David Panton is the Minister’s nominated person for the purpose of domestic travel,” a spokesperson for Bishop told the <a href="http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-5443879/Julie-Bishop-claimed-32-000-family-travel.html" target="_blank">Daily Mail</a>. “The Minister is compliant with the Register of Interests.” Panton has also accompanied Bishop on several overseas trips, however the minister has never claimed taxpayer funds to pay for her partner’s international travel. Do you think it's outrageous that Julie Bishop's long-term boyfriend gets all his travel expenses paid for by taxpayer funds? Tell us in the comments below.

Domestic Travel

Aussie taxpayers to foot $100,000 bill for Cassie Sainsbury's legal defence

Aussie taxpayers will foot the $100,000 bill for Cassie Sainsbury’s legal defence, after the 22-year-old was found guilty of trying to smuggle cocaine out of Colombia. The Adelaide resident was sentenced to six years’ jail yesterday and ordered to pay a $130,000 fine after she pleaded guilty to drug trafficking. While the Australian government won’t touch the fine, taxpayers will cover her legal assistance. “These people (like Cassie) are just victim of bigger criminals,” said Sainsbury’s Columbian lawyer, Orlando Herran, adding that he believed she deserved the money. <blockquote class="twitter-tweet"> Convicted drug mule Cassie Sainsbury could walk free from a Colombian prison within three years. <a href="https://twitter.com/MarkWBurrows?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@MarkWBurrows</a> <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/9News?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#9News</a> <a href="https://t.co/jWLD2EvpRg">pic.twitter.com/jWLD2EvpRg</a> — Nine News Australia (@9NewsAUS) <a href="https://twitter.com/9NewsAUS/status/925984664199741440?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">November 2, 2017</a></blockquote> Sainsbury is not the first convicted drug smuggler to have part of her legal bills covered by Aussie Taxpayers, with Schapelle Corby, Andrew Chan and Myuran Sukumaran receiving similar treatment from the Australian government. “Cocaine Cassie” was staring down the barrel of 30 years behind bars for trying to smuggle 6kg of cocaine out of Columbia on April 12, but thanks to a plea deal accepted by the Columbian judge she could be out in two-and-a-half years for good behaviour. “She’s lucky because the amount of the drugs was very big,” Mr Herran told the Aussie journalists who had travelled to Colombia after the closed-door hearing. What are your thoughts? Do you think it’s unfair for Australian taxpayers to foot the bill for legal proceedings in cases like this? Or do we have a responsibility to protect our citizens overseas, even when they’ve put a foot wrong? Hero image credit: Twitter / The West Have you arranged your travel insurance yet? Save money with Over60 Travel Insurance. <a href="https://elevate.agatravelinsurance.com.au/oversixty?utm_source=over60&utm_medium=content&utm_content=link1&utm_campaign=travel-insurance" target="_blank">To arrange a quote, click here.</a> Or for more information, call 1800 622 966.

International Travel

Centrelink changes to cost taxpayers $50 million

Centrelink has announced it will outsource its call centre in a three-year test program that will cost the government $51.7 million. UK private company Serco, which runs Australia's detention centres, will take on outsourced call centre duties from Centrelink, Human Services Minister Alan Tudge has announced. "This will cost $50 million over two years," he said. "We are piloting a new program...using a private provider to answer some of these calls." The new contract comes after 1200 Australians were ‘released’ from Department of Human Services jobs. Community and Public Sector Union National Secretary Nadine Flood said that the contract added insult to injury to those who’d lost their jobs and criticised the move as ineffective, "cut-price privatisation". "Services are complex and it requires properly trained staff," she said. "This is a cut-price privatisation and it's not going to fix people's problems with Centrelink." She said the government was putting peoples' personal details at risk. "Trusting the highly sensitive needs and information handled by Centrelink staff to a private operator is scary in itself and this situation is even worse," said Ms Flood. "Providing Serco with even the most basic access to client records would be giving the company a frightening amount of personal information. "Centrelink clients need real help, such as that they are given by our members who have permanent jobs in the department and, therefore, the proper training and experience to actually resolve peoples' problems. "A private call centre that's designed merely to make the department's call waiting times look better isn't going to genuinely help anyone." In 2014, 22 million calls to Centrelink were met with engaged signals, <a href="http://www.oversixty.com.au/finance/money-banking/2017/03/28-million-centrelink-calls-got-an-engaged-signal/">increasing to 29 million in 2015, and a massive 42 million in 2016.</a> Mr Tudge said the new operators would be "up and running" by early next year. What do you think of this move by the government? Let us know in the comments below.

Money & Banking

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Tourism Australia staff caught spending $140k of taxpayers' money on personal travel

Super has become a taxpayer-funded inheritance scheme for the rich. Here’s how to fix it – and save billions

How Centrelink-scamming nurse rorted $100k in taxpayer money

“National disgrace”: Aussie taxpayers fork out $40 million to expand irrigation in the Murray-Darling Basin

New ATO phone scam swindling hundreds of thousands from Aussie taxpayers

Number of Aussies on welfare soars – at HUGE cost to taxpayers

Accused pedophile’s legal bills paid for by Australian taxpayers

Julie Bishop claims $32K in taxpayer-funded 'family travel' for long-term boyfriend

Aussie taxpayers to foot $100,000 bill for Cassie Sainsbury's legal defence

Centrelink changes to cost taxpayers $50 million

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