Taxpayers spent $17,600 on repairs for Scott Morrison’s $250M VIP jet ‘Shark One’ last year – including recolouring leather seats with pen ink on them
- The PM’s VIP jet cost $250m to convert from a Qantas A330 to KC-30A tanker
- It was rarely used in the last year but has racked up $17,600 in cabin damages
- The plane’s wooden sideboard was scratched by suitcases and cost $12,538.80
Australian taxpayers forked out more than $17,000 on repairs for Scott Morrison‘s VIP jet ‘Shark One’ in the last year.
The Qantas A330 plane cost $250million to convert into an Air Force One-style sky base and is named after Mr Morrison’s beloved NRL team the Cronulla Sharks.
Shark One accumulated more than $17,600 of damage to furniture and fittings in its cabin from September 2019 to December 2020, according to Department of Defence documents obtained by The Australian.
Prime Minister Scott Morrison sits in the conference room of his VIP plane ‘Shark One’ on his way back from Japan in November last year. Shark One accumulated more than $17,600 of damage to furniture and fittings in its cabin from September 2019 to December 2020
The plane’s wood-panelled sideboard was scratched and scuffed by suitcases and needed to be buffed out at the cost of $12,538.80.
‘Leather repairs on Ceiling Panel and re-dye 2 leather seats’ came with a $2,076.90 pricetag while seat and cover refurbishments cost $1,918.58.
Taxpayers also forked out another $1114.09 for ‘pen removal and recolour’ on several of the plane’s 102 seats.
Fortunately, two faulty coffee makers did not cost anything to replace since they were still under warranty.
Daily Mail Australia has contacted the Department of Defence for comment and the Prime Minister’s Office for comment.
The plane was rarely used in the last year due to international travel restrictions amid the Covid-19 pandemic.
Mr Morrison and wife Jenny arrive in the US after Shark One’s maiden voyage in September 2019. The plane’s wood-panelled sideboard was scratched and scuffed by suitcases and needed to be buffed out at the cost of $12,538.80 to taxpayers
Mr Morrison and Jenny are welcomed during their 2019 trip to the US. The plane was rarely used in the last year due to international travel restrictions amid the Covid-19 pandemic
Foreign Minister Marise Payne and Defence Minister Linda Reynold flew to Washington in July last year.
The PM’s office reportedly forbid the Liberal senators from using Mr Morrison’s VIP office, which includes a bed, on the 24-hour flight.
Mr Morrison later made a 50-hour trip to Japan to sign a trade deal with Prime Minister Yoshihide Suga in November.
He made his maiden voyage in Shark One with a trip to the US in September 2019.
The plane is a previous Qantas and Jetstar commercial A330, which was bought in 2015 by Airbus and modified into a KC-30A freighter and air-to-air refueller.
Mr Morrison’s plane was originally a Qantas and Jetstar commercial A330, which was bought in 2015 by Airbus and modified into a KC-30A tanker. Pictured: Another KC-30A tanker in Brisbane in 2013
The KC-30A tanker can travel from Australia to Russia in a single trip without stopping to refuel.
Shark One has a customised interior, and can comfortably carry 102 passengers in a lie-flat configuration.
The Prime Minister’s previous aircraft was a single-aisle Boeing 737-700 that had been used since John Howard’s leadership, and would be used for both domestic and international flights.
The plane had the capacity for only 18 passengers, including two AFP Protection officers and three Air Force staff, leaving other ministers, journalists and officials to chase the PM’s aircraft around the world using commercial airlines.
Now the press party can travel in style, with the aircraft capable of completing one-way flights from Canberra to Tel Aviv and Moscow.
Mr Morrison and Jenny board a RAAF aircraft in June 2019, prior to Shark One’s completion. The Prime Minister’s previous aircraft was a single-aisle Boeing 737-700 that had been used since John Howard’s leadership, and would be used for both domestic and international flights