Tasmanian Racing Minister Jane Howlett has confirmed that taxpayers funded most of her trip to Melbourne so she could attend the Melbourne Cup.
Howlett initially dodged questions about who paid for the trip on Friday, saying it was part of her job to “attend events like the Melbourne Cup and do stakeholder management”.
When pressed further, she admitted that she paid for her own flight but the government covered the cost of her return ticket.
“It’s part of my portfolio duties to attend these industry events and that’s what I did,” she said.
“I wouldn’t be doing my job properly if I did not attend the races.”
The Minister also revealed that the taxpayer covered two nights of her accommodation in Melbourne.
“I attended a meeting on the Monday and… I also had a meeting on the Sunday night,” she said.
“The meeting on the Monday was a luncheon that was held which was also attended by the Leader of the Opposition and also the Shadow Minister for Racing.”
The questions came following several releases from the Labor Party, which wanted to know who had bankrolled the trip.
“There was some significant benefits that occurred out of my networking meetings that I had,” Howlett said.
“I also had discussions about syndication and people coming down here to purchase horses at our Magic Millions sales, so I was able to secure people from interstate to come here and invest in our racing industry here.”
“I’ll always back our racing industry here.”
