How your taxpayer dollars are being used for ridiculous things from massages to diversity training – Daily Mail
Australian taxpayers are forking out huge amounts of money to pay for diversity training, a halal dinner, massages, Ubers and meals for public servants – with Defence a particularly big spender.
For the first time ever, the federal government’s gross debt is set to surpass $1trillion by June 2024, making up 44.6 per cent of Australia’s gross domestic product, following a spate of Covid welfare spending measures in 2020 and 2021.
That would equate to $41,089 worth of debt for every Australian, based on updated Treasury Budget night figures.
A Daily Mail Australia search of AusTender contracts has revealed the extent of spending by various departments and agencies.
In July 2021, Defence outlaid $240,320 on a ‘diversity leadership training’ program from Zeitgeist Coaching and Training.
In June 2015 spent $12,138 on a Royal Australian Navy Iftar dinner in Canberra for the Muslim community.
Australian taxpayers are forking out ridiculous amounts of money to pay for diversity training, a halal dinner, massages and even Ubers (app pictured) and meals for public servants – with Defence a big spender
In July 2021, the Department of Defence spent $240,320 on a ‘diversity leadership training’ program from Zeitgeist Coaching and Training (pictured if Chief of Defence General Angus Campbell
‘A dinner to mark the breaking of fast during Ramadan, where local Muslim community members, Ambassadors and Navy personnel attended,’ an AusTender description said.
The Grand Mufti of Australia, Dr Ibrahim Abu Mohamed, was there along with Chief of Navy Vice Admiral Tim Barrett at the Australian War Memorial.
The dinner featured a speech from Captain Mona Shindy, whose Twitter account was suspended by the Navy in 2016 because it contained political statements.
Captain Shindy, Chief of Navy’s strategic adviser on Islamic affairs, had run @navyislamic until it was removed following complaints of partisanship.
Her social media account had criticised former prime minister Tony Abbott and supported the Grand Mufti, following controversial comments he had made about the Paris terror attacks in 2015.
Defence was also a big spender on remedial massage with the company Muscle Maintenance Massage getting a $42,768 contract between August 2016 and June 2017.
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