More scrutiny needed on politicians’ allowances | Opinion

For those who go all the way down to the woods right this moment, be sure you take your pockets.

That’s the not-so-big shock for South Australian taxpayers shelling out hundreds of {dollars} to fund our very personal political model of the Teddy Bears’ Picnic.

This explicit picnic is simply the most recent demonstration of how the hard-earned dosh of voters is gaily frittered away by our MPs – and so they all do it – within the identify of shameless self-promotion, in any other case often called “discretionary spending” of their “international allowance”.

Whereas most politicians waste our cash on reusable purchasing baggage emblazoned with their names, new Labor MP Olivia Savvas has a penchant for teddy bears.

This may increasingly appear odd for somebody who earlier than coming into politics labored for a serious financial institution as an analyst specialising in counter-terrorism finance. However these are unusual days certainly.

Savvas took the north-east suburban seat of Newland from the Liberals eventually yr’s election, nailing it with a wholesome 5.4 per cent two-party margin. That’s a powerful debut in a notoriously fickle seat.

She grew to become the youngest individual to enter state parliament on the age of 25 – she’s now 27 – and is the youngest girl ever elected to the Home of Meeting.

She ought to simply maintain Newland on the 2026 election and might be a minister within the Malinauskas Cupboard sooner fairly than later.

However again to the teddy bears.

Savvas had some explaining to do after the Opposition’s Freedom of Data requests revealed she had spent virtually $3000 on fluffy toy bears as 12 months 6 commencement items for native main faculty college students.

Cue outrage by the Liberals. Cue excessive dudgeon and spin from the Malinauskas Authorities.

From purchasing baggage, fridge magnets and shiny ‘newsletters’ with a number of photographs of the native MP on each web page, it’s all junk.

It took two FOIs by the Opposition to tweak out the total extent of the first-time MP’s teddy bear purchasing spree – $1463 for the primary 100, then a $1463 invoice for the second batch of 100.

The federal government says this wasn’t an try at a cover-up however “FOI incompetence”. It seems like one little public service teddy bear might be despatched off to the naughty nook.

The MP for Newland isn’t breaking any guidelines together with her teddy bear technique. Or is she? It depends upon who you ask.

The Treasury and Finance Division, who one would possibly suppose would have the final say on losing cash, initially rejected the primary bill for reimbursement, ruling the bears had been a present and so fell exterior the principles of the “international allowance” for MPs.

The FOI paperwork present that, after an strategy from a Savvas staffer, Treasurer Stephen Mullighan overrode his personal departmental ruling and accepted the spending as a result of the bears weren’t a present however a type of trophy or medal.

Is it any surprise that the state’s runaway well being price range has proved not possible to rein in?

It could be a helpful train if Auditor-Common Andrew Richardson, who heads the state’s impartial monetary watchdog, had a little bit of a squiz on the teddy spend.

The money quantity could seem trifling nevertheless it’d be value a ruling earlier than the teddy precedent sees MPs doling out skateboards, Barbie dolls, yo-yos or Macca’s vouchers as “trophies” or “medals”.

A authorities spokeswoman advised The Advertiser’s Kathryn Bermingham that “a lot to the Liberals’ annoyance”, Ms Savvas was an “energetic, hard-working MP who’s strongly engaged together with her neighborhood”.

“Do the Liberals actually don’t have anything higher to do than to complain about faculty children receiving teddy bears?” the spokeswoman mentioned.

The Liberals have sought to pin the teddy bear spend to Savvas’ age, labelling the purchases as “juvenile”.

That’s an affordable shot. Virtually all spending by MPs on freebie geegaws is juvenile. The “international allowance” guidelines see politicians of all vintages and political hues collectively spending a whole bunch of hundreds of taxpayer money on junk to advertise themselves. The older they get, the more severe it will get.

From purchasing baggage, fridge magnets and shiny “newsletters” with a number of photographs of the native MP on each web page, it’s all junk.

I as soon as accepted a fairly stylish “Sam Duluk – Liberal for Waite” purchasing bag from his acolytes at Mitcham Buying Centre, in happier occasions for the Liberal, then Unbiased, now ex-MP.

As his profession unravelled, the navy bag began to attract odd seems on the Woolies checkout in Unley, and it’s now misplaced in translation. It’s a Bolshie place, Unley.

The political and ‘international allowance’ boundaries surrounding teddy bears are fuzzier than Fozzy Bear.

Worse than this, governments spend eye-watering quantities on promoting campaigns which might be largely little greater than thinly-veiled political promotion.

Costly promoting campaigns after every state price range have virtually nothing to do with informing the general public – they’re all about telling the general public what an exquisite job the federal government is doing.

And whereas it’s a worthy initiative, do we actually want high-rotation TV adverts telling us cellphones are banned throughout faculty hours? Dad and mom and college students can study all they should know concerning the ban from newsletters and in school assemblies.

On Monday, Schooling Division boss Martin Westwell revealed to a parliamentary committee that the federal government had diverted $1.2m in Gonski faculty funding to run an promoting marketing campaign for the brand new Findon technical faculty.

“It was value it: it was an acceptable spend of cash with a purpose to be sure South Australians had been conscious of this chance,” he mentioned.

Actually? To date, the marketing campaign has galvanised a mere 43 college students to enrol. That’s hardly bang for bucks, is it?

Teddy-gate raises one other problem. Whereas the 12 months 6 college students little doubt adore their free bears, they don’t want a particular present – sorry, trophy or medal – from their native MPs.

It’d be a good suggestion if MPs stayed immediately from faculties, notably main faculties.

An award bearing the identify of the native MP is designed to advertise the MP and their political social gathering.

Whereas it could be well-intentioned, it’s politicising the varsity yard, looking for to subtly imprint your social gathering’s credentials on youngsters and their mother and father. Hey pollies, depart our faculties alone.

If MPs wish to have interaction college students within the parliamentary course of they need to conduct faculty tour teams round parliament home – as Labor MP for Hurtle Vale Nat Prepare dinner did this week – as a result of the boundaries between a faculty yard and a office are clear.

The political and “international allowance” boundaries surrounding teddy bears are fuzzier than Fozzy Bear.

Moreover, politics and toy bears aren’t all the time comfortable bedfellows.

In 1984, the late SA Labor legend Mick Younger was compelled to briefly stand down from the Hawke Cupboard when he didn’t declare to Customs a big stuffed Paddington Bear in his spouse’s suitcase.

And we mustn’t overlook former Liberal MP, the late Ted Chapman, aka Large Ted, the person on the centre of an inside Liberal brawl that lasted for many years.

The lyrics to the Teddy Bears’ Picnic warn that in case you go down within the woods right this moment, you higher not go alone, “it’s pretty down within the woods right this moment, however safer to remain at residence”.

By now, Premier Peter Malinauskas could have had a quiet phrase with Ms Savvas suggesting it’s safer leaving her teddy bears within the woods.

But when the MP for Newland persists together with her teddy bear technique, maybe we may all pitch in to assist hold the prices down.

A fast depend of the Abraham family has revealed we now have no less than 18 stuffed bears – starting from a conventional teddy to assorted Beanie Child bears, together with Victor the Vampire, a private favorite.

If all of us shook out our toy containers, we may hold Olivia Savvas in free stuffed toys for donkey’s years.

My childhood teddy bear is sitting within the nook proper now, watching me faucet away, not making a squeak. Effectively, the previous Ted solely has one ear lately and now not growls in case you tip him the wrong way up.

Are you able to bear it?

Matthew Abraham is InDaily’s political columnist. Matthew may be discovered on Twitter as @kevcorduroy. It’s a protracted story.

Supported by the Authorities of South Australia