Nationals plan aborted - fundraiser on warship selling charity tickets for $1,000 a head

Didn't anyone in the Western Australia National Party ship of fools realise that this was going to be an extremely bad idea?

Using cheaply bought charity tickets auctioned by the Royal Flying Doctor Service, WA MP Paul Brown decided that he'd pump up the price of each ticket to $1,000 a head and use them for a National Party fundraiser. Aboard an Australian warship. Without telling the Navy about it.

How much is this fuckwit getting paid? Or does he simply think everyone around him is even more stupid than he is?

But his plan ran aground badly – he failed to tell the Navy about the planned fundraiser. It is understood senior Defence figures were furious when they found out. 

The lunch, which included a tour of HMAS Stirling base where the Anzac class frigate is berthed, was based on gift vouchers which had been auctioned at a Royal Flying Doctor Service charity event last year with the Navy's blessing. 

Mr Brown told Fairfax Media he had successfully bid for a package of events that included lunch for 20 people aboard HMAS Perth for about $2800. 

He then hit upon the idea of using the tickets for a fundraiser and went as far as sending out a flyer spruiking the lunch under the heading "All aboard!" 

WA Nationals MLC Paul Brown organised the event. But he said the WA Nationals then realised it was "inappropriate" to use a Navy vessel for a fundraiser and to profit from tickets purchased at a charity event. 

"That criticism could fairly be pointed at me," he said. "It would be disingenuous of me to pretend that it wasn't a fundraiser." 

He said it was Mr Redman, the WA Nationals leader, who initially raised questions about the propriety of the event, which was cancelled early this week. 

"Then as part of our internal discussions we came to the decision it was inappropriate." 

He said he had initially regarded it as "a unique opportunity" given the timing of HMAS Perth's return to Stirling base. 

He said the whole thing had been arranged quickly and acknowledged it had not been fully thought out. At no stage had Defence been told about the fundraiser plans, he said. Sydney Morning Herald