Some people get the governments they deserve

Australian Health Minister Sussan Ley has resigned after using a taxpayer-funded trip to buy a flat on Queensland’s Gold Coast.

Let’s be clear here: she paid for the flat herself, with her own money. But she made the arrangements while she was on a taxpayer-funded trip for government business. And taxpayer-funded trips can be used only for government business.

What would the response in Malta have been? “U ejja, she was going on the government business trip anyway, so it made no difference whether she also had a personal meeting or not once she did her government business.”

“U ejja, mela that’s a resignation matter. Come on, she didn’t even raid the minibar.”

Her Prime Minister, Malcolm Turnbull, immediately accepted her resignation and said:

“Australians are entitled to expect that politicians spend taxpayers’ money carefully, ensuring at all times that their work expenditure represents an efficient, effective and ethical use of public resources. We should be as careful and as accountable with taxpayer money as we possibly can be.”

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