Less than an hour later, the government announced that Bushby will become Australia’s next consul-general in Chicago. A highly-paid overseas posting that comes with lots of perks and little public scrutiny.

Bushby is the latest in a line of Liberals to land a plumb position on the taxpayer dime.

As Australia limps towards the next federal election over coming months, which if polling is to believed will see a Labor victory, the Liberal National government is using its dying days to dole out jobs.

Former Liberal minister Nick Minchin was appointed to the Foreign Investment Review Board (FIRB) on Dec. 7, 2018, a day after parliament rose for the year.

