Two private aircraft for a trip involving the prime minister, the police commissioner and a part travels to make crime prevention ads in regional queensland earlier this year cost the taxpayers around $ 167,000.
Prime Minister Steven Miles, Police Commissioner Steve Gollschewski, Police Minister Mark Ryan, other parliamentarians and personnel used airplanes to visit cities such as Cairns, Townsville and Hervey Bay for a few days in April.
Gollschewski told a budget estimation hearing on Friday that flights cost taxpayers $ 167,825 to travel to multiple destinations for several days.
“There was an initial discussion about other airplanes and I said that we cannot use operational (police) airplanes for this type of travel,” he told the audience.
“The cost of that particular plane for that week was $ 83,185.
“The second plane, the total cost of the week was $ 84,640”.
Gollschewski said it was his first day as a police commissioner and that he saw the benefit of being able to travel to the regions.
He said that other options, such as commercial flights, were not adequate.
“I weighed that everything, I considered the importance and felt it was something I should do, now it was not until this week until I discovered what the total cost was,” he told the audience.
It was confirmed that the deputy of the Cairns Michael Healy, the deputy of Townsville, Scott Stewart, the deputy of Barron River Craig Crawford, all based in the north of Queensland, were also on the legs of the trip.
Police Commissioner Steve Gollschewski, Police Minister Mark Ryan, Prime Minister Steven Miles and Hervey Bay Bay Adrian Tantari in Hervey Bay in April. (ABC News: ABC Wide Bay: Lucy Lorem)
Gollschewski said the police would also analyze why the flight manifesto was not updated, as required by the Civil Aviation Security Authority for rented flights.
“The reason I have no confidence (in the manifesto) is that I know that there are flights in which he was and does not appear in the manifesto,” he said.
“I have asked for more work in relation to that manifesto to obtain a precision of who was really in him.
“The manifesto, they have advised me, are precise at the time of the reserve, but if there are changes later, they have not modified them.”
In Estimates on Tuesday, Miles defended the use of two aircraft for the trip, but did not reveal the total cost.
“There has been a long data practice for the funds to be assigned to QGAIR to provide air services to the Queensland government,” he told the audience.
“That includes for the prime minister and for the ministers, for the police commissioner and for the transfers of prisoners, other emergency services and organ transplants.
“The itinerary that was reserved for me was completely within the guidelines for ministerial trips and, as I have outlined, come from the assignments that have long been made to QGAIR to allow ministers to start our great state” .
Miles said that when commercial flights were adequate, I always used them to travel.
(Tagstotranslate) Queensland Premier (T) Steven Miles (T) Queensland Police (T) Taxpayers (T) Steve Gollschewski (T) Private Jet (T) Regional flights
