Joe Ludwig (Queensland, Australian Labor Party, Manager of Government Business in the Senate) Share this | Hansard source

The Minister for Health and Ageing has provided the following answer to the honourable senator's question:

(1) The Minister and Parliamentary Secretaries do not have access to a departmental credit card.

(2) (a) The number of mobile devices (including mobile phones, Blackberrys and data cards used in laptops) provided to the Ministers and the Parliamentary Secretary within the Health and Ageing portfolio are:

(b) The total spend on mobile devices for each office for the billing period to date are:

The costs above are for a two month period based on billing cycles that most closely align with the period in question.

(3) The employment of staff under the Members of Parliament (Staff) Act 1984 is administered by the Department of Finance and Deregulation. On 19 October 2010, the Department of Finance and Deregulation tabled with the Senate F&PA Committee a list of Government Personal Positions as at 1 October 2010.

In addition the department provides relief staff, in accordance with the provisions of the Ministers of State Entitlements Handbook, and Departmental Liaison Officers (DLOs) to the Ministers’ offices. As at 29 November 2010, the staffing classifications for departmental relief staff and DLOs in the Ministers and Parliamentary Secretary’s Office are:

Minister Roxon’s Office

Minister Butler’s Office

Minister Snowdon’s Office (only in relation to the Minister’s role as Minister for Indigenous Health)

Parliamentary Secretary King’s Office

(4) The cost of official travel by Ministers, Parliamentary Secretaries and accompanying staff employed under the Members of Parliament (staff) Act 1984 is reported by the Department of Finance and Deregulation. As such, the cost of official travel for the period 14 September to 29 November 2010 will be tabled by the Special Minister of State in the last sitting week of June 2011 in his six-monthly report on Parliamentarians’ Expenditure on Entitlements Paid by the Department of Finance and Deregulation.

(5) The cost of official travel by staff employed under the Members of Parliamentary (Staff) Act 1984 is administered by the Department of Finance and Deregulation. As such, the information sought will be included in the Minister representing the Special Minister of State’s response to question number 308.