VIC: $200 tip on state credit card not on, says Kennett

AAP General News (Australia)
04-08-1999
VIC: $200 tip on state credit card not on, says Kennett

MELBOURNE, April 8 AAP - Victorian bureaucrats should not be tipping restaurant staff
hundreds of dollars at taxpayers' expense, Premier Jeff Kennett said today, after documents
revealed one left a $200 tip after a lunch.

According to credit card records released under Freedom of Information, Treasury official
Chloe Munro (Munro) left $200 for staff at a top Melbourne restaurant, on top of a food and
drink bill of $1,651.

After a $749 meal at another restaurant, she tipped staff $100, according to records
obtained by the state opposition and published in the Herald Sun newspaper.

Mr Kennett said while Ms Munro, the deputy secretary of the Energy Projects unit, was a
very senior and competent employee, "she probably does need a bit of guidance - that sort of
tipping is out of line".

He told radio 3AW she would not have to repay the money, but said he would make sure it did
not happen again.

But he defended the system of issuing credit cards to public servants and ministers, which
has come under fire over the last 12 months after revelations some had used their cards for
private purchases and later repaid the money.

Credit cards were the best way of ensuring spending was open to public scrutiny, he said.

AAP kmh/ra/bm

KEYWORD: CARDS

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