Bureaucrats roasted over pricy coffee

A FEDERAL government bureaucrat has played the productivity card to defend an outlay of $75,000 on high-end coffee machines.

Vanessa Graham, corporate division head at the Department of Industry, Innovation, Science Research and Tertiary Education, said the department had bought five $15,000 Melitta coffee machines for its two Canberra offices.

Liberal senator David Bushby asked how the expense was justified, considering a recent freeze on funding grants for research projects.

Ms Graham said the machines "generate value for employees and we believe increase productivity".

They were of a quality that could deal with the high number of staff using them, which reduced maintenance costs, Ms Graham said.

That answer didn't satisfy Senator Bushby, who replied: "I'm sure there are quite good coffee shops nearby."

"I'm quite sure that a kettle would in most workplaces ... suffice, and I'm sure most people can make themselves coffee in the breaks that they have," he told a senate budget estimates hearing in Canberra on Wednesday.

The machines are believed to offer 16 selections of brew including cappuccino, espresso, latte, mocha and hot chocolate.

Clean Energy Regulator chief executive Chloe Munro was roasted during a budget estimates hearing this week about spending on Nespresso machines.

Ms Munro said on Monday the regulator's $20,000 coffee machines were partly a productivity measure because they meant staff didn't have to leave the building for their daily caffeine hit.

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