The Greens senator who likes to call out others for making mistakes – using the Senate committee system as a star chamber – has again made her own mistake by misinterpreting her figures at a Senate committee hearing this week.
Senator Barbara Pocock used her platform to try to accuse the Bureau of Meteorology of a cost lapse when she wrongly accused the department of overspending by $55 billion instead of $55 million.
She corrected her mistake with a wry smile – but it is not the first time that the former economics professor has pushed her figures to the limit.
A month ago, Daily Mail Australia exposed Senator Pocock’s $99,900,000 blunder when she criticized government officials over a “missing” $100 million payment that didn’t actually exist, compounding the mistake by tweeting about it.
The payment she incorrectly referred to was in fact $100,000, not $100 million, and while the senator claimed that “key milestones were not properly met,” both the ministry and the service provider denied this.
Not good with numbers? Senator Barbara Pocock (pictured) has again got her numbers wrong
The Greens senator eventually deleted her inaccurate tweet, but only after queries from Daily Mail Australia.
The senator’s latest miscalculation could also be a false accusation, with the Bureau of Meteorology disputing the way it described the costs. Questions have been accepted.
The senator also used a radio interview on the ABC in July last year to claim that partnerships such as Australia’s major consultancy firms do not pay payroll tax.
But this is also simply not true. These companies pay payroll taxes on their employees just like any other company.
Mistakes happen, right? Former economics professor Barbara Pocock (photos) continues to make mistakes
This week a NSW parliamentary committee released its report on the consultancy profession.
The Greens on that committee recommend that payroll taxes be levied on partners in large consultancy firms, and not just on employees, something that does not apply to other partnership agreements in any other profession.
It would mean double taxation.
At least the NSW Commission reported in a timely manner, unlike its federal colleagues. T
The NSW committee began its investigation long after Pocock’s Senate committee was formed and began its hearings – but has now reported.
The Senate committee has postponed the submission of its report as many as four times. The company was supposed to report today, but now appears to have postponed it for the fifth time.
This is despite claiming that reforms in the sector are ‘urgently needed’.
