Federal Pollies Somehow Dropped $760K On Aussie Flags In Just Six Months

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Published

September 2, 2016

When Tony Abbott was booted from the nation’s top job, it seemed like his departure would finally bring an end to frankly bonkers sums of money splashed on Australian flags by Federal pollies. After all, his press conference flag-a-paloozas appeared to account for, like, a solid third of our nation’s flag stocks at any one time.

Well, the figures from the final six months of 2015 are in, and Australia’s leaders have been exceedingly generous with donations of our national banner. And, surprisingly, the figures even dwarf those from the halcyon days of Tones’ resplendent backdrops.

Who’s got the Flag gig?
APH or Abbott Staffer? pic.twitter.com/mZO8sbUrAF

— john (@John_Hanna) June 18, 2015

The newest figures on parliamentary entitlements show a cool $763,391 was spent on flags in the six months ending 2015. Labor Senator Matt Thistlethwaite tops the list with nearly $23K of flags doled out under his watch. Twenty. Three. Thousand. Dollars. On. Flags.

Liberal MP Fiona Scott ain’t far behind, with colleague Rick Wilson closing out the top three with an expenditure of over $18K. FWIW, Abbott has seemingly relented from his vexillogical onslaught. He only dropped $472 on ’em in that time period.

Notably, Independent MP Bob Katter, who once bemoaned the fact he spent so little on flags, spent a respectable $11.5K on ’em during that time period. On the other end of the spectrum, Labor Senator Helen Polley spent $10. Are you even trying, Helen?

As for why pollies seem to spend so much on ’em? Well, politicians are allowed to distribute flags to any public organisation that… well, has a flagpole in need of a flag. Think schools, libraries, town halls, what have you. Community bodies operating overseas are also allowed to snag a few. Obviously, they’re used for ceremonial purposes too, and family members of veterans can request a flag for a funeral service.

Check out the full list of spenders right here.

Source: ABC.
Photo: Stefan Postles / Getty.