Australian MPs spent AUD4.62 million on overseas trips in
the last six months of last year. They are required to lodge travel diaries
detailing their taxpayer-funded jaunts and the diaries can become a source of
some amusement around Parliament House. A Liberal MP from Queensland, Peter
Lindsay, spent AUD37,203 on a seven-day trip to Mongolia. His travel diary
contains insights into the local culture such as the fact that the capital of
Mongolia and Perth have roughly the same size population and that Mongolians do
not tend to behave in a “”silly”” way.

“”Ulaanbaatar is the coldest capital city in the world –
typically minus 40 degrees in winter,”” Lindsay wrote. “”Mongolians have a far
better work and safety ethic than Australians. Their philosophy is ingrained
based on the premise “I have to take care of myself”. No one does anything
silly.””  Lindsay did not elaborate on
what constituted “”silly”” behavior, but he did recommend to Parliament that
Australia set up an embassy in Mongolia.