Senator Cormann and his family took the trip in early January, 2018. The minister only paid for the return flights to Singapore from Perth on Monday afternoon, after Mr Burnes and Senator Cormann were contacted by The Age and Sydney Morning Herald. Senator Cormann said on Monday he had "no idea" that the travel had been booked on the family and staff travel account, nor that his credit card had not been charged. He was "completely unaware of internal administrative arrangements at Helloworld in terms of how they managed private and personal travel". Mr Burnes said it was "absolutely an internal administrative oversight" that Senator Cormann’s credit card had not been charged for the trip when it was booked, which allowed the politician and his family to fly for free to Singapore.

Senator Cormann, who is a close personal and political associate of Mr Burnes, a Liberal donor, has never declared the Singapore family holiday on his parliamentary register of interests. Shortly after the 2017 contract tender, veteran finance department official, John Sheridan, who ran the process, was moved sideways. Departmental documents and a source involved in the tender suggest Mr Sheridan had annoyed some of the bidders, including Helloworld, when he sought to cut margins and save the government money. Liberal party federal treasurer and Helloworld CEO Andrew Burnes. Credit:Daniel Munoz Senator Cormann said on Monday that he had no influence over the Finance Department tender process that led to Mr Burnes's company being re-contracted to supply travel and accommodation booking services to the Australian government. AOT had previously held the same contract, which was first awarded by the Gillard government in 2012.

Loading Helloworld is a $713 million company whose main rivals in the corporate and government market include Flight Centre. Mr Burnes and his wife own a 35 per cent stake while Qantas Airways is its second-biggest shareholder with 17 per cent. Former Treasurer Joe Hockey is also a top 20 shareholder. When The Age and Sydney Morning Herald sought comment from Mr Burnes on Monday about why his travel group had booked the Cormann family’s travel, he said: “We sell $6.5 billion worth of travel. So many people use our company to book their travel.” Sources close to the company said that his personal office had arranged the Perth to Singapore booking after a request from Mr Cormann some time before 17 July 2017.

A Helloworld source said it was “probably inappropriate” that Mr Cormann’s travel was booked via a “family and staff” account. The Age and Sydney Morning Herald are not accusing Senator Cormann or Mr Burnes of any wrongdoing. A source familiar with the tender negotiations between AOT and the Finance Department said an in-principle deal was reached in relation to a new contract on June 28, 2017, just over a fortnight before Mr Cormann’s trip to Singapore was booked by Helloworld and six weeks before Helloworld announced to the market it had won the government travel contract. Between 2000 and 2014, Mr Burnes’s AOT Group donated at least $170,000 to state and federal branches of the Liberal Party. The 2017 contract tender process was overseen by veteran finance department official, John Sheridan, who was moved sideways shortly after the tender process finished.

Loading According to departmental documents and a source involved in the tender process, Mr Sheridan had annoyed some of the bidders, including Helloworld, when he sought to cut margins and save the government money. Asked if Mr Burnes had ever expressed concern about Mr Sheridan to him, Senator Cormann replied: "I'm not going into specifics. From time to time people engaged in procurement processes ... raise issues. My standard process is to send anyone to the department". On Monday evening, Mr Burnes said he had not expressed any displeasure about Mr Sheridan to Senator Cormann, but acknowledged that "I did provide some feedback about aspects of the [tender] process to the Minister [Senator Cormann] who referred me to the department." In August 2017, Mr Sheridan was shifted to a new role in the finance department. He declined to discuss why he was moved, referring reporters to the finance department's media team.