A minister in the Morrison government faces calls for his sacking after attending the cricket for three days rather than front a Senate Covid committee.
Minister for Sport Richard Colbeck, who is also the minister for Senior Australians and Aged Care Services, had been asked to address the Senate Select Committee on Covid-19 on January 14 on the current Omicron outbreaks in nursing homes.
But in a letter to the Committee's chair, Labor Senator Katy Gallagher, on January 9, Mr Colbeck said he could not attend in person because of 'urgent and critical work' his department was doing to manage the outbreaks.
Instead he offered a one-hour briefing via videoconference at an 'alternate later date'.
'Diverting time and resources, including that of senior leaders within the Department who are playing a key role in the management of the current Omicron outbreaks, to give evidence at this crucial time, would impact the urgent and critical work the Department is undertaking with other government agencies, states and territories to manage these outbreaks,' Mr Colbeck wrote.
Richard Colbeck, who is the Minister for Senior Australians and Aged Care Services, and Minister for Sport, had been asked to address the Senate Select Committee on Covid-19 on current Omicron outbreaks in nursing homes. He cited work reasons for not attending but went to the Ashes Test match in Hobart on the day he was asked to appear
Mr Colbeck's declaration on the Registry of Senators' Interests shows he attended three days of the Hobart Test match
Mr Colbeck, a senator from Tasmania, then filed a declaration on the Registry of Senators' interests on January 19 which revealed he had attended the Ashes Test match in Hobart, including on the day he had been asked to appear before the committee.
'It’s completely unacceptable that a minister – overseeing another crisis in aged care where people are dying – chose to go to the cricket for 3 days of sponsored hospitality instead of fronting up and doing his job,' Senator Gallagher tweeted on Tuesday along with a copy of Mr Colbeck's letter and declaration.
'I don’t think there was a crisis at the cricket. There was a crisis in aged care,' Ms Gallagher followed up on ABC's 7.30 program last night.
