Luxury (gaming) trip of a minister for Gaming and Racing

10.03.2006, Lesen Sie hier den Bericht über «Luxury (gaming) trip of a minister for Gaming and Racing».

After $50,000 trip minister is minus his department THE Minister for Gaming and Racing, Grant McBride, spent close to $50,000 on an around-the-world trip to research gambling and horseracing in which he and his staff travelled business class and stayed at luxury hotels.

Documents obtained by the Herald under freedom of information laws show the cost of Mr McBride's trip, which included visits to Los Angeles, Las Vegas, Macau, Beijing, Hong Kong and London in October and November last year, exceeded $43,000.

The minister, who says he does not drink, smoke or gamble, travelled with his policy adviser Daniel Cook and former chief of staff John Whelan. The cost of flights for Mr McBride, Mr Cook and Mr Whelan was more than $23,000. Mr Whelan, the son of the former police minister Paul Whelan, travelled only to Hong Kong and Macau, while Mr McBride and Mr Cook did the entire trip.

Mr McBride has become a minister without a department this year, with the Government's announcement that gaming and racing will be swallowed up by the new Department of the Arts, Sport and Recreation. He has recently lost his director-general of gaming and racing, Ken Brown, who has retired, his chief of staff and his press secretary.

There was speculation that Mr McBride - who took just four questions in question time last year and rarely does press conferences - was close to being dumped in the most recent cabinet reshuffle. There has also been talk he will retire at the next election but his spokesman, Peter McCabe, said this week Mr McBride "will be running for Parliament again in 2007". He holds the Central Coast seat of The Entrance by a margin of 9.5 per cent.

Mr McBride and Mr Cook, who replaced Mr Whelan as chief of staff when he quit shortly after the trip, stayed at the plush Langham Hotel in London, the MGM Grand Hotel and Casino in Las Vegas and other top quality hotels in Hong Kong and Macau. They visited casinos, racecourses and a problem- gambling forum. The expense forms and credit card bills seen by the Herald do not reveal any gambling but do show a series of expensive hotel rooms and dinners. Included in the expenses are books purchased by Mr Cook for $93, which Mr McBride's office describes as "city maps and travel guides". The costs also include $654 shelled out for special passports, which Mr McBride's office said yesterday were usually obtained for ministers' trips under Commonwealth guidelines on travel by ministers. Mr Cook spent $251 on a car in Las Vegas. Although the receipt said it was a "limo ride", Mr McBride's office said it was for the hire of a sedan.

Mr McBride is not required to prepare a report on the trip, as is required of Commonwealth Parliamentary Association trips. Mr McBride's trip followed the former premier Bob Carr's farewell junket to Dubai and London last July, which cost taxpayers close to $120,000, and trips to the US and Europe by the Police Minister, Carl Scully.

Ben Wilson, a spokesman for the Premier, Morris Iemma, said: "The minister's trip was approved [and] it was appropriate to his portfolio duties." Mr McCabe said: "He [Mr McBride] stands by the integrity of the trip." Mr McBride told the Herald last year that every minister had the right to a study trip in each term of Parliament.

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Macau (englisch Macao) liegt rund 50 Kilometer westlich von Hongkong und ist das Glücksspiel-Paradies in Asien.

Macau hat rund 40 Spielcasinos. Die grössten Casinos sind The Venetian Macao, MGM Macao, Wynn Macao, Galaxy StarWorld, City of Dreams, Sands Macao, Casino Lisboa.

Neben den riesigen und farbenfrohen Casinobuildings ist eines der Wahrzeichen der Macau Tower (Fernsehturm mit 338 Meter) mit atemberaubenden Ausblicken auf die Stadt.

Macau erstreckt sich über eine Fläche von 115.3 km2 und hat rund 620'000 Einwohner.

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