‘LABOR is considering dissolving the $218 million-a-year Climate Change Department as part of a cost-saving restructure that could see it merged with another government bureaucracy.
In other words, a purely cosmetic change to the massive white elephant Gillard’s government set up. Not one bureauleech will be sacked.
The department is part of a $1.6 billion-a-year climate change behemoth in place to administer the government’s carbon tax. It also includes the Clean Energy Regulator, the Climate Change Authority and the Office of the Renewable Energy Regulator.
The sprawling bureaucracy is centred in Canberra, with departmental staff housed in the six-star energy-rated Nishi building, which is under a 15-year lease worth $158m. Departmental figures given to the Senate last year revealed that 1094 staff members also work from offices in Melbourne, Sydney, Brisbane and Samoa – in a rental space located about 5km from the beach and a nearby golf course.
….The department has spent $1.7 million on travel in the first four months of the 2012-13 financial year. During this period, staff took nearly 300 business-class flights
…For the 2011-12 financial year, the department spent $5.7m on official travel, including airfares, travel allowances, car hire and taxis. About 280 international trips were undertaken by climate change staff over the year at a cost of about $2m. The department yesterday confirmed it had no policy for purchasing carbon offsets for official air travel.
….The Climate Change Department also provides coffee machines, sandwich presses and microwaves to service its staff, with 13 coffee machines costing about $45,000. It regularly buys up to 30 bags of coffee beans at a cost of $795 every three to four weeks in order to “positively impact on staff morale and productivity”.
….The office in Apia, Samoa, located in the building for the Secretariat of the Pacific Regional Environment Program, supports two staff and is located about 5km from the beach and a nearby golf course at an annual cost to taxpayers of about $33,000.
…The department spent about $139,175 on training expenses in the first four months of the 2012-13 year, including courses for staff on “credit card acquittal”, “giving and receiving feedback”, “influencing and relationship building” and “leading your team”.
It spent about $1.7m in the 2011-12 year on similar training courses and in-house learning, including assistance for staff undertaking study. In one instance, $544 was contributed towards the cost of a diploma in French.
Its spending on advertising costs in the first four months of the 2012-13 financial year was $30,192, with total costs in the 2011-12 financial year coming in at $16.7m.
The department also spent $107,562 on stationery items in the first four months of the 2012-13 financial year. Hospitality costs for the first four months of the 2012-13 financial year were $91,257 while the department racked up a $217,209 bill for 2011-12, including on entertainment and business catering…

(via The Australian, subscription required.)