Earlier this week, The SMH reported that Finance Minister Mathias Cormann was found to have received free flights for a family holiday to Singapore from Hello World – a company controlled by Liberal Party Treasurer Andrew Burnes – within weeks of the company winning a $1 billion contract from Cormann’s Finance Department.
Now the scandal has spread to former Treasurer and US Ambassador, Joe Hockey. From The SMH:
In April 2017, Mr Hockey told Washington embassy staff to meet with an executive from Helloworld…
The meeting was intended to help Helloworld understand the travel requirements of foreign affairs staff stationed in North America, to help it pitch a proposal for a commercial arrangement with the department.
The meeting in Washington in April 26, 2017 was arranged after Mr Burnes contacted Mr Hockey. The company’s 2017 annual report shows Mr Hockey is one of Helloworld’s 20 largest shareholders, with a stake now worth more than $1.3 million.
Where there’s smoke, there’s usually fire.
