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House of Assembly - Fifty-Fifth Parliament, First Session (55-1)
2023-02-22 Daily Xml
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Ministerial Travel

Mr COWDREY (Colton) (14:21): My question is to the Treasurer. Did the Treasurer personally approve the choices of hotels his party stayed in on his recent trip to the United States? With your leave, sir, and that of the house, I will explain.

Leave granted.

Mr COWDREY: It has been reported that the nightly cost at the Century Park Hotel where the Treasurer stayed in Los Angeles was $US676 a night. The Marmara Park Avenue hotel, where the Treasurer stayed in New York City, is described on its own website as a New York City luxury hotel featuring a wellness centre, Turkish bath and curated art collection, and is located a convenient 13-minute walk from Madison Square Gardens, home of the New York Rangers.

The Hon. S.C. MULLIGHAN (Lee—Treasurer) (14:22): I don't recall who made the decisions around these, but these hotels were selected on the basis of being proximate to the business meetings that we had in each of these centres. Of course, the point I have repeated when asked publicly about this is that overseas travel is very expensive at the moment. The reason why is because after having virtually closed borders for 2½ years, there is a rush—not just for leisure travel but for business travel.

Governments and many private businesses had been precluded from showing up face to face to those people with whom it's important to maintain a direct relationship. Of course, there are fewer flights available to locations that people are travelling to and the price is much, much higher than what it has been historically.

But I make the point that as far as I'm aware, I am the first Treasurer to present to face-to-face meetings internationally since 2017. This was an endeavour that the previous government didn't think was important enough.

Members interjecting:

The SPEAKER: Order!

The Hon. S.C. MULLIGHAN: The member for Hartley may say that Zoom is sufficient, but that is not the standard that those opposite kept when they were in government, particularly those including the member for Dunstan, the member for Chaffey and the former member of the other place, the Hon. David Ridgway. Overseas travel by Liberals is fine; overseas travel by people who aren't Liberals apparently is abhorrent. Once again, a double standard from the Liberal Party of South Australia.

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