As Judith Collins once said, the more a man assures you of his honesty, the more closely you should watch your pockets.
The same is doubly, triply, true of politicians who blatherskite about “integrity”. The Australian Greens, for instance, pontificate endlessly about “integrity” and “getting big money” out of politics – at the same time as they trouser the biggest donations in Australian history, and fend off revelations on everything from theft, bullying, and drug use, to rape.
The only politicians deeper in the pockets of the super-rich and more climate-demented than the Greens are the Teals.
So, it’s no surprise to find they’re even more lacking in the “integrity” they brag about so much.
A politician who has campaigned for climate change has been caught flying in business class 27 times in one year at the expense of taxpayers.
It’s worth noting that, for all that she styles herself like a bag lady on a windy day, Mongo is a multimillionaire. To damn her with faint praise, I guess, she actually got mega-rich before she got into politics.
So, it’s not like she needs the taxpayer’s money if she wants to indulge in little luxuries like business class flights.
According to documents made public under freedom of information, Kooyong MP Monique Ryan made 27 business class flights totalling $28,000.
Most of the flights were hour-long trips from Melbourne to Canberra and all on the taxpayers’ dime.
I guess it’s a case of ‘Since God has given us the parliamentary seat, let us enjoy it.’
Ms Ryan is known for her passion in fighting climate change, but appeared to have no hesitation in taking several business class flights – which are known to produce three times as much carbon emissions than economy class.
Of course, for all the Teals, it’s very much a case of ‘Do as we pontificate, not as we do,’ but Mongo really takes the well-iced cake.
No other teal flew business class in the last year anywhere near as much as Ms Ryan.
Independent MP Zoe Daniel took business class flights four times, Sophie Scamps once and the rest didn’t at all.
Ms Ryan defended her actions and told Sydney Morning Herald she had acted within the Inter-Parliamentary Expenses Authority guidelines.
Yet, as Gladys Berejiklian has found out, just because it’s legal, doesn’t make it ethical.
Speaking of ethics, the Teals also do a long line of finger-wagging about workers’ rights and integrity in politics…
It is the latest controversy for the new minister who only recently agreed to a settlement with her former chief of staff Sally Rugg for $100,000.
The federal court case in January alleged Ms Rugg was required to work ‘unreasonable’ additional hours, breaching the Fair Work Act, and that the commonwealth took ‘adverse action’ when Ms Ryan dismissed her from her position.
Court documents revealed a breakdown in the relationship between the pair over work hours and the situation worsened when Ms Rugg flew home to self-isolate after contracting Covid-19 in late November.
In Ms Rugg’s statement of claim stated that from July to December she ‘regularly worked’ more than 65 hours a week, which included working weekends and averaged out to be on average 58 hours a week.
It’s a small sacrifice, though, compared to the burden of worrying about the climate.
In her campaign to run for the seat of Kooyong, Ms Ryan stated she was increasingly concerned about the effects of climate change and how it would affect future generations.
“I was worried that my children might not have the opportunities I’ve had because our environment and economy might be blighted by the effect of human-induced climate change,” Ms Ryan states on her MP website.“I felt that I could no longer look away from the incipient disasters of rising sea levels, warming of the land, and species extinction.”
Daily Mail
Mongo couldn’t look away… so she summoned the air hostess to draw the curtains instead.
Oh, and peel her another grape while you’re at it, peasant.