Hockey overshadows policy annoucement
YESTERDAY was meant to be all about Tony Abbott and his $92 million tourism campaign. Mr Hockey set up a farm accommodation business when he was tourism and small business minister.
But the Opposition Leader's policy has been overshadowed with the discovery that his shadow treasurer Joe Hockey conducted his own regional tourism strategy.
It's been learned Mr Hockey and his wife set up a farm accommodation business at Malanda two days after he launched a taxpayer-funded ad campaign for farmstays when he was tourism and small business minister in 2004.
But it turns out Mr Hockey did not declare that he was setting up the farmstay business when he launched the
government-backed promotional campaign for farmstays.
Nor has he ever declared the accommodation aspect of the business on his pecuniary interests register.
Mr Hockey simply listed the property as a cattle farm on the register 18 months later.
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On May 3, 2004, in Victoria, Mr Hockey launched the government "Farm and Country Tourism on your property: Assessment Tool". ASIC records show he set up his own farmstay business on May 1.
He has since used the property at Malanda to derive farm and rental income.
When contacted about it yesterday, Mr Hockey first claimed the launch of the Farm and Country Tourism Kit was well before he started the business.
But Australian Securities and Investment Commission records show it was around the same time.
He then said that the kit was not government funded, he had just launched it. But the press release from the time states: that the kit was developed by the Co-operative Research Centre for Sustainable Tourism in Queensland "using funding from the Australian government through the regional tourism program".
Mr Hockey reacted angrily yesterday to the revelations and accused Labor of running a "smear campaign".
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Shadow over policy: Yesterday was meant to be all about Tony Abbott and his $92 million tourism campaign. But the Opposition Leader's policy has been overshadowed by Joe Hockey conducting his own regional tourism strategy.
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