Abbott’s wine expenses revealed

Recently revealed receipts show wine expenditure in Tony Abbott’s final two months as prime minister was in excess of AU$7,000 – but there is little evidence Abbott himself was behind the buying decisions.

Wine hasn’t been something for Aussie PM Tony abbott to smile about lately. (Photo: Wiki)

A freedom of information request has shown that from February to April last year, in Abbott’s final months as premier before he was deposed in a leadership battle by Malcolm Turnbull, AU$7,430 of taxpayer money was spent on cases of beer and wine to be used at official and private functions at ‘The Lodge’.

As reported by the Sydney Morning Herald, wines on the list included Riesling and Shiraz from Clonakilla, Chardonnay from Oakridge and Devil’s Lair, Cabernet Sauvignon from Cullen and Penfolds ‘Bin 9’, while beers included Heineken, James Boags, Corona, Peroni and James Squire’s ‘150 Lashes Pale Ale’.

The main fuss in the Australian press appears to be the time it took to respond to the information request and the heavy redaction applied to the receipts when they were initially released.

The request was initially filed by Labor senate leader, Penny Wong, over a year ago while Abbott was still in power.

However, instead of the statutory 30-day reply period, it took six months for the receipts to be handed over – heavily redacted.

So blacked out were portions of the receipts that Wong joked in the senate she wouldn’t be surprised if the department responsible had run out of toner.

Claims that the prime minister’s drinks preferences were a “private matter” were recently overturned by the information commissioner, Timothy Pilgrim, who said such things were not a state secret.

He also added that there was, anyway, nothing to link Abbott directly with any of the purchases.

He said: “There is nothing before me that indicates that the former prime minister had any involvement with the alcohol purchases,” he found.

“If it had been shown that the former prime minister had directed the purchases in accordance with his personal preferences, then I accept that the alcohol brands could be the personal information of the former prime minster.

“However, in the present circumstances, I think any connection between the purchase decision and the personal preferences of the former prime minister, if there is a connection, is too remote.”