Public servants rack up $800,000 sandwich bill

More than $800,000 was spent on sandwiches and cakes for public servants attending training courses.

The Australian Public Service Commission confirmed to the Sunday Telegraph the $833,516 bill since the 2010 election, which provided "modest" morning tea, lunch and afternoon tea fare for public servants from Kingston's Idelic Café.

The meals were for training courses at the ASPC's Woden base which taught public servants how to prepare for question time in parliament and Senate estimate hearings.

Idelic Café is located 10km from the ASPC's headquarters and was chosen over other closer options due to value for money.

A spokeswoman for the ASPC told the Sunday Telegraph the cost of the catering reflected the scale of the operation.

"The provision of on-site catering is an efficiency measure that increases development time by significantly shortening meal breaks or enabling groups to work through meals when required," the spokeswoman said.

Idelic Café manager Bobby said the process was open-tender.

"It's just the quality of our food," he was quoted as saying.

Source: Sunday Telegraph

Author: Jack Hawke, Approving editor: Simon Black