NEWS DESK
MPs make ‘modest’ claims for travel Keith Platt keith@baysidenews.com.au Still missing: Karen Rae was last seen in April. The man, above, believed to be the last to see Karen Rae.
Family’s missing person burden “NOT having an answer” is the hardest thing for loved ones of missing persons to bear. It’s a numbing feeling, and one which the family of missing Frankston North woman Karen Rae feel experience daily. The 48-year-old has not been seen or heard from since leaving her home on Wednesday 15 April. Mother Chris Boyle said Karen’s disappearance has had a huge effect on our family, especially her sons. “I regularly see her 10-year-old son and it is heartbreaking trying to explain to him what’s happened,” she said. “He’s very sad and misses his mother. He asks to see photos and talk about what she was like when she was his age. “It’s something that is never too far away from
my thoughts. I could be going about a normal day and just one thing reminds me of Karen and I’m immediately frozen. It’s not having an answer that is the hardest – has something happened to her? Did she decide to leave? Is she alone? “She’s my daughter. I love her. I just want to know that she’s ok.” Karen was last seen with an unknown man in a vehicle. National Missing Persons Week last week was coordinated by Australian Federal Police through the National Missing Persons Coordination Centre, along with support from state and territory police. Of the 9245 people reported missing in Victoria last year, more than half were accounted for within 24 hours. Just over 75 per cent were accounted for
within the first three days. By the end of last year, 98.7 percent of missing person’s cases had been closed. Police are keen to “dispel the myths” surrounding missing people, such as: You don’t have to wait 24 hours to report someone as missing, it is not a crime to go missing, people don’t “choose” to go missing, a missing person’s address is not released to the person who reported them missing, and, adults can be reported as missing. National Missing Persons Week last week aims to raise community awareness about missing persons and the impact that losing a loved one can have on their families and the wider community. Further information on NMPW can be found at missingpersons.gov.au
THE cost to the taxpayer of travel by the two federal MPs who represent Frankston and the Mornington Peninsula is reasonably modest compared with some of their colleagues. According to the latest available Department of Finance figures taxpayer-paid travelling expenses for the two MPs up to the end of December last year came to $249,249. The department says the costs relate to 1 July31 December 2014 and an unspecified time before 1 July 2014. Neither Mr Billson or Mr Hunt rated in the top 10 of MPs with the highest travel expenses. The bill for Dunkley MP Bruce Billson, who is also Minister for Small Business, was $109,198 while in the neighbouring electorate of Flinders, Environment Minister Greg Hunt’s travel costs were $140,051. Mr Billson took one ministerial overseas trip at a cost of $16,390. He also claimed $7849 (domestic flights and Commonwealth car) for his family. Mr Billson received a travelling allowance of $19,263 while Mr Hunt’s allowance came in at $20,503. Mr Hunt went overseas twice in reported period at a cost of $41,952. His family travel expenses came to $5267. Mr Hunt’s single biggest flight was a charter to Moranbah, in central Queensland. That trip on 10 June 2014 took him over the site of the contentious $16 billion Carmichael open cut coal mining project. The proposal by the Indian company Adani Mining hit the headlines last week when govern-
ment approval for the mine was set aside by the High Court after being presented with evidence of a bungle within Mr Hunt’s department which meant there were no provisions to protect the endangered yakka skink and ornamental snake. When announcing approval of the mine in the month following his visit Mr Hunt stressed the remoteness of the area – “it is the deep outback; it is a sparsely vegetated area” – and that the mine would be subject to “some very, very strict conditions”. The falling price of coal and last week’s announcement by the Commonwealth bank of its withdrawal as Adani’s advisor may mean that the project’s “lifetime resource value of at least $300 billion” may stay in the ground. Mr Hunt’s overseas trips were to Slovenia, Croatia, Serbia and Germany ($16,780) to attend the 65th meeting of the International Whaling Commission and “to conduct a series of highlevel meetings”; and, the Philippines, Malaysia and Vietnam ($25,172) “to conduct a series of high-level discussions regarding the Great Barrier Reef World Heritage Area”. Mr Hunt’s other travel costs included $35,253 for scheduled domestic flights (mainly between Canberra and Melbourne or Sydney) and $37, 074 for cars ($6551 privately registered and $29, 612 Commonwealth cars). He also received a travelling allowance of $20,503. Mr Billson went to Singapore and China ($16,390) to attend an APEC Small and Medium Enterprise ministerial meeting “and conduct a series of other high-level meetings”. His other travelling costs included $39,205 for scheduled domestic flights (to most states but mainly to Canberra and Sydney) and $21,593 for cars ($9166 privately registered and $14,725 Commonwealth cars).
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