From joannenova.com.au

Cynics are wondering what, exactly Australia got for spending $1.6 million sending 75 people on a two week junket in Brazil last year?

Australia, of course, got nothing, but this is the bread and butter currency for The Blob. How else can you convince bored bureaucrats to pretend warming causes cooling, and maintain the righteous indignation!

Getting a free trip to Brazil surely ranks pretty high on bragging lists at Saturday night dinners. That shine helps make up for the mental effort of selling your soul and pretending that Sunday night’s pot roast causes floods in Dhaka.

It also provides the inspiration to keep the next generation of Blobocrats focused. The underlings learn that people who shed tears about climate change get rewarded, while the critics don’t. Just one ill advised remark, one careless joke, could compromise the plane tickets.

Responses to Senate estimates questions on notice have revealed Department of Climate Change and Energy sent 32 officials, the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade sent nine officials, and the Department of Agriculture sent one official to Belém, Brazil in November last year for the UN Conference of the Parties summit.

And the Department of Climate Change budgeted $1.6m for their 32 officials to fly to Brazil, it said.

And this $395,000 — it’s just an investment for the future. One day a Youth Climate Coalition leader will end up in a heavily edited documentary promoting your Department. Think of this as advertising money and it all makes sense….

The department also revealed it disbursed a $395,000 grant program for other organisations to attend the COP30 summit. This included groups like the Aboriginal Carbon Fund, Australian Youth Climate Coalition, United Nations Youth Australia, and Women’s Environmental Leadership Australia.

Remember, even as the Departments of Fisheries, Forestry and Agriculture enjoy their tours of the Amazon, that some fishermen, farmers and foresters have lost their jobs in Australia due to whimsical policy changes. Labor has recklessly damaged these industries, while the Departmental Chosen Ones use their tax dollars to party in Latin America.