EXCLUSIVE Bill Shorten is accused of hypocrisy for treating bureaucrats to a lavish lunch while urging them to cut back on spending DO YOU KNOW MORE? Email tips@dailymail.com By Steve Jackson For Daily Mail Australia Published: 08:17, 12 August 2024 | Updated: 08:17, 12 August 2024 e-mail View comments EXCLUSIVE Bill Shorten is under fire for treating senior bureaucrats to a lavish lunch at one of Canberra's most luxurious hotels - only to urge them to 'stop wasting money'. Documents obtained by Daily Mail Australia reveal the Government Services Minister - and his department - forked out more than $40,000 on a one-day leadership forum for senior executives at the ritzy Hyatt Hotel in April.
The vast majority of the money - about $22,500 - was spent on hiring a function room and catering for the event at the glamorous hotel, one of the most exclusive - and expensive - venues in the national capital. Services Australia's top brass was treated to an opening address from Mr Shorten at the forum, along with a five-star lunch, with fare ranging from chicken baguettes to roast lamb and potatoes. A further $16,000 was spent on hiring audio-visual equipment for the event on April 30, along with $880 for a 'Welcome to Country' announcement and almost $160 for 'decorations'.
Despite the hefty outlay on the working lunch, Mr Shorten took the opportunity to remind Services Australia executives at the forum that there was 'zero appetite for wasting money'. 'When people are doing it tough,.