TA “volunteering”

[***super_nova***]

Am i bit strange to think that if person is doing something for charity or is supposedly volunteering they do it in their own time and at their expense? 

Tony Abbott claims to be a friend of Indigenous Australians, regularly spending time in their communities “volunteering”. This is an enormously expensive lie.  That is an insult to all the people who really do volunteer and give freely their time.

Read more...http://www.independentaustralia.net/2013/politics/tony-abbotts-costly-indigenous-community-volunteer...

[izabsmiling]

Our PM promised to cut waste 

[lakeland27]

---

@catmad*2013 wrote:

do you know how long it takes to get to those communities? 

From start to finish it will be a week. 

he might have only had three full days on the ground building things but there would also be travel time and time to meet with leaders. 

I guess you have zero idea of how things work when it comes to these sort of events. 

---

who cares anyway ? his idea (or credlins) presented as 'charitible works' which in fact it isn't. he didn't do it for free, he made on the deal and then has the gall to say 'look at me , i volunteer and i care' pfft . what a fraud.

[cherry*135]

Why is everyone only focusing on the LNP claims? I hear that there are lots of labor pollies that also have paid back claims? 

Same reason everyone focused on Labor Leader & pollies alleged indiscretions when they were in Govt.

Tony Abbott is the Prime Minister of Aust now...all eyes are on him and his cronies.. especially when he is caught doing stuff  himself, he criticised others for doing.

Do you not get that?

[cherry*135]

I 100% agree with anyone claiming expenses of volunteering.

I don't, especially when they are on a high salary. Fair enough if a person on a low income got refunded their bus fares when they go to and from a volunteer job, but no excuse for anyone on high salary not to volunteer their time unconditionally.

[izabsmiling]

Our current Government taught us that these things are important for a Government.

[freakiness]

---

@catmad*2013 wrote:

do you know how long it takes to get to those communities? 

From start to finish it will be a week. 

he might have only had three full days on the ground building things but there would also be travel time and time to meet with leaders. 

I guess you have zero idea of how things work when it comes to these sort of events. 

---

He hired a plane. There is nowhere in Australia that takes a week in a private jet to get to and from.

Besides that claim has always been that he spends a week there not that he spends a few days there and the rest touring to get there.

Where and when did he spend 3 days on the ground building anything?

[izabsmiling]

I'd rather pay the red cross volunteers .

[cherry*135]

The school my kids went to had a community service program which a students could apply to go on, to a remote Indigenous community for a week.

Parents/fundraising paid their costs.

[cherry*135]

The rules for political comment on CS must be:

Labor in Govt - bag the life out of everything they do.. incl the female PM's new glasses and the shape of her suit jacket,, calling the male PM as pyschopath (quite acceptable).

LNP in Govt - never criticize anything they say, do, have done, or will do.

[i-need-a-martini]

---

@catmad*2013 wrote:

I 100% agree with anyone claiming expenses of volunteering. 

---

I 100% disagree with ANYONE claiming expenses whilst claiming to be volunteering or doing work for charity. Politician or otherwise.

It's especially galling given that these types of events were included as part of his character building campaign to show he was a 'just do it' kind of bloke who helps by volunteering and getting involved in charities. Even worse that he was claiming expenses whilst working alongside ordinary folk who were taking part out of the goodness of their hearts. 

I can also recall comments by you catmad along the lines of "look at how much volunteer work he does - he is a much better person than Gillard cause she doesn't get involved." Never mind that she was running the country at the time...

Whilst I think politicians and especially PMs should be able to claim entitlements this is falling over the line in terms of moral obligations.