http://www.theaustralian.com.au/index.asp?URL=/national/4242114.htm Why Australians will foot $1.5m bill for Queen's visit By MATTHEW HORAN in Canberra 11apr99 TAXPAYERS will be billed more than $1.5 million to host the Queen � the richest woman in the world � during her visit to Australia next year. The cost will include paying for Queen Elizabeth II and her husband Prince Phillip to fly to Australia � even though they will probably use the Queen's private RAF jet. Luxury hotel accommodation for her retinue of courtiers and handmaidens, expected to be more than 25, will also be paid for by Australia. This is despite the fact taxpayers may by then have voted in the November referendum for Australia to become a republic, effectively sacking the Queen. It will be the Queen's 13th visit to Australia, and the first in seven years. Queen Elizabeth is worth $540 million dollars, even without the Crown Jewels, which are worth $26 million. Her vast estates in England and Scotland provide a separate income to the money provided through the UK's Civil List, which gives her $17.5 million a year � almost $50,000 a day. Previous trips by the Queen and other Royals, including the late Princess Diana, have set taxpayers back millions. The Queen's last visit, a one-week whirlwind tour in 1992, costAustralians $1,292,684. The visit was notorious for then-Prime Minister Paul Keating placing his arm around Her Majesty � which led to him being dubbed The Lizard of Oz by Britain's The Sun newspaper. Prince Charles' 12-day visit in January 1994 cost $478,265. During that trip a man with a starting gun lunged at the prince in Sydney. Federal police security costs for the trip were just $9000. The Queen's 21-day visit to Australia for the Bicentenary celebrations in 1988 cost $1,341,597, while the 10-day visit by Prince Charles and Princess Di in the same year cost $752,912. A 10-day visit by Prince Andrew and his then-wife Sarah Ferguson later that year cost taxpayers $313,259. All costs for next year's visit will be met by the Ceremonial and Hospitality section of the Department of the Prime Minister and Cabinet. A spokesman for Prime Minister John Howard said it was too early to say what the cost of the visit would be. "We don't know how long she will be here for, or where she will be visiting," he said. [This posting is provided to the individual members of this group without permission from the copyright owner for purposes of criticism, comment, scholarship and research under the "fair use" provisions of the Federal copyright laws and it may not be distributed further without permission of the copyright owner, except for "fair use."] Leftlink - Australia's Broad Left Mailing List mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] http://www.alexia.net.au/~www/mhutton/index.html Sponsored by Melbourne's New International Bookshop Subscribe: mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]?Body=subscribe%20leftlink Unsubscribe: mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]?Body=unsubscribe%20leftlink
