Tony Burke's partner is Skye Laris.
https://www.heraldsun.com.au/blogs/...r/news-story/8c4b3b25cfe6de4d7218cfcb02824e80
She was an activist for GetUp and is now on the board of AGL
From Bolt's Blog:
- Labor frontbencher Tony Burke charged taxpayers $48,000 for luxury euro trip with staffer who is now his partner.
- The pair flew first class to Barcelona in 2009.
- His partner Skye Laris admits she fell in love with the man who hired and promoted her.
- Burke says his expenses are “beyond community expectations”.
IT’S a love story that blossomed in the luxurious comfort of first class — all paid for by the Aussie taxpayer.
Labor frontbencher Tony Burke has come under fire for charging taxpayers $48,000 to take first class flights to Spain and Italy with his staffer Skye Laris, who is now his partner.
Now Ms Laris has hit back at news reports that uncovered her politician lover’s extraordinary travel expenses.
In a fiery social media post, Ms Laris says she has chosen to no longer ignore the “whispering campaigns” that plague “young women in politics”.
Tony Burke and partner Skye Laris in Tasmania last year in a picture from her Facebook page.
She says: “We are capable and we are damn good at our jobs and sometimes someone even acknowledges that by hiring us or promoting us. Yes, I ultimately fell in love with someone who did that.”
She then goes on to pay tribute to an unnamed woman and mentor whose job she was filling in for when she started working for Mr Burke.
At a cost of $48,000 to taxpayers, the pair travelled first-class to Barcelona in 2009 where the then agricultural minister attended a food security forum, according to
The Australian.
Shortly after the trip, Ms Laris was promoted to chief of staff which would allow her to accompany Mr Burke on his domestic and overseas jaunts.
In the chief of staff role, Ms Laris accompanied her boss on trips to China and Italy in 2009.
Mr Burke separated from his wife Cathy Bresnan-Burke in 2012 and two years later the pair went public with their relationship.
TONY BOURKE’S FLIGHTS OF FANCY
At the time, The Australian reported that Ms Bresnan-Burke was less than impressed to learn of the love affair.
“I apologise to those of you who are supportive of this ‘recent’ development. But given the humiliation and distress I am feeling, having spent almost 26 years with Tony, I believe I am entitled to vent just a little,” she wrote on her Facebook wall, according to
The Australian.
“I need to heal from what is a devastating loss and betrayal for me. Some would say this should be done in privacy and ordinarily I would agree but in this case nothing about this situation is private.”
Ms Laris is registered as Mr Burke’s spouse and their children are registered as dependants meaning Mr Burke can claim travel costs for Ms Laris and her two children, as well as for his children.
Labor frontbencher Tony Burke is under fire for travel expenses even he claims are “beyond community expectations”. Picture: AAP.
Mr Burke — who spearheaded the attack on former speaker Bronwyn Bishop over travel expense claims that brought on her resignation — is now facing political pressure for claiming expenses even he admits are “beyond community expectations”.
The Daily Telegraph has revealed Mr Burke’s department spent more than $50,000 throwing lavish functions across the nation in his first six and a half weeks as arts minister during the final year of the Labor government.
He attended eight “stakeholder functions” in six different cities at a cost to the taxpayer of $54,312.69, not long after then prime minister Julia Gillard had announced the election date.
The Australian has also uncovered a batch of entitlement claims from 2009 when the then Labor frontbencher charged $48,951 for a six-day ministerial trip to Europe, including first-class flights for a senior adviser — Ms Laris.
The revelations have come to light as Prime Minister Tony Abbott revealed he would include a business big hitter in a five-man razor gang that will nip in the bud overly generous perks for politicians.
BURKE SPENT $54K ON PARTIES IN SIX WEEKS
BURKE CHARGED TAXPAYERS TO TRAVEL TO ROBBIE WILLIAMS CONCERT
Mr Burke earlier this week confirmed he would pay back the $94 Comcar fare he charged taxpayers to attend the Robbie Williams concert last year.
He also conceded that cost of Uluru business class flights for himself and his family was excessive.
“While I am completely confident that the questions ... have been 100 per cent within the rules, they have also been completely beyond community expectations,” he said.
Mr Burke said he had asked the Finance Department to review his family travel claims, but he would not repay the cost of the tickets at this stage.
And here:
A senior manager in charge of promoting the energy policy of Australia’s largest electricity producer previously worked for activist group GetUp!, which is committed to shutting down the coal-fired power industry.
Self-described political strategist Skye Laris is an executive member of AGL Energy managing director Andy Vesey’s team as he sticks with the company’s plan to shut down the Liddell power station in the NSW Hunter Valley, despite protests the planned closure threatens energy supplies.
Ms Laris, who joined AGL in February as senior manager, digital engagement, is now a senior manager, public advocacy for the company. She is a former campaign director for GetUp!... Immediately before joining GetUp! in March 2011, she was chief of staff and policy adviser to Labor frontbencher Tony Burke, who is also her partner.
This week Ms Laris has re-tweeted messages from Mr Vesey’s Twitter feed that have declared “we’re getting out of coal”... She has also tweeted high praise for an AGL TV ad in which the narrator says: “Let’s be honest, things need to change. So at AGL we are getting out of coal. Starting 2022, ending 2050.”
The ad says the company has started a fund that will put $3 billion into creating more renewable energy.
A coal-fired generation business that loathes the very material on which it makes its money.
A generator that treats it as a moral imperative to give its customers another product that will cost them more.
