Australia Parliament on guard against MP art theft (Wizbang Politics)

Officials are worried outgoing lawmakers will take items not belonging to them.

CANBERRA (Reuters) - Officials at Australia's Parliament House on Wednesday took down valuable artworks to keep lawmakers dumped in weekend elections from stealing them as they began packing up offices.
"We do make sure we take out all our artworks, all the Parliament House's art collection that are in people's offices, before too much disappears," said Hillary Penfold, the Secretary of the Department of Parliamentary Services.

Labor Prime Minister-elect Kevin Rudd on Saturday swept aside 11 years of conservative rule under John Howard. Dumped ministers and lawmakers from both sides of the political divide were on Wednesday vacating offices and removing classified files for disposal.

Penfold said many offices in the sprawling Parliament house were hung with significant artworks belonging to the national collection and on loan to MPs to decorate offices.

Pictures could also be inadvertently taken in the cleanup, she told local radio.

I suggest a spot check for silverware and keys from computer keyboards also.

Common sense would seem to dictate that no politician should take items not rightly belonging to them. If they do, they should be prosecuted. Who said common sense had anything to do with politics?

One last note- I wonder what Hillary Penfold's political affilitation is. Were officials worried in the past about theft too?

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Comments (3)

A politician who does n... (Below threshold)

1. Posted by Kyle Haight | November 28, 2007 3:23 PM | Score: 1 (1 votes cast)

Kyle Haight:

A politician who does not take items not rightly belonging to them is damn near a contradiction in terms. Modern politicians spend way more time figuring out how to take things that aren't theirs than they do on their actual job, viz. protecting the individual rights of the citizens they represent.

Posted on November 28, 2007 15:23

This happens every time a n... (Below threshold)

2. Posted by Mike Licht | November 28, 2007 7:13 PM | Score: 0 (0 votes cast)

Mike Licht:

This happens every time a new Mayor is elected in Washington DC. City-owned paintings lent to cabinet members somehow end up in their homes. But you probably could have guessed that.

Posted on November 28, 2007 19:13

I know people pull out the ... (Below threshold)

3. Posted by Marcel Parcells | November 29, 2007 12:05 AM | Score: 0 (0 votes cast)

Marcel Parcells:

I know people pull out the Australia-as-a-country-of-convicts-that-were-sent-to -the-other-end-of-the-earth-for-a-reason thing far to often.

But. . .

Posted on November 29, 2007 00:05