The cool reception that a koala at Sydney's Taronga Zoo accorded visiting British Prince Harry yesterday reflected the curmudgeonly attitude of many Australian taxpayers.
The 19-year-old's four-month holiday will cost the public purse A$600,000 (US$400,000) in extra security charges.
PHOTO: AP
For that, Australians get no public appearances from the third in the line to the throne and lanky son of the late Lady Diana other than the customary five-minute photo shoot of the obligatory koala cuddle.
The Labour Party's Kevin Rudd, the opposition's foreign affairs spokesman in parliament, said taxpayers' money shouldn't be spent on "a bit of a jaunt" by a super-privileged young man.
"I think maybe we should look carefully at the cost-sharing arrangements with the British government on this because it's a lot of money," he said.
But Tourism Minister Joe Hockey dismissed Rudd's objections to the cost of guarding the prince, arguing that the exposure was well worth the expense.
"We would have to spend five times that amount of money to get the same positive publicity for Australia in the UK," Hockey said. "It sends a fantastic message ... that the most desirable place in the world for a young Brit is Australia."
Around 10,000 school graduates Harry's age head to Australia each year in what has become a rite of passage for rich kids enjoying a "gap year" before going to college.
Harry arrived for the koala tryst on the famous harbor foreshore with a retinue of security guards that kept between him and the accompanying media.
Unlike elder brother and heir to the throne, Prince William, Harry has a wild streak that has endeared him to Britain's scandal-mongering tabloids.
They will be hoping to catch him drunk and disorderly or high on drugs on his Australian holiday. Two years ago, they labeled him "Harry Pothead" after Prince Charles disciplined him for his marijuana habit. Harry also raised his father's ire for underage drinking.
The official itinerary includes watching favorites England play in November's Rugby World Cup, captaining the Young England polo team in a match against Young Australia and watching the Melbourne Cup, the country's richest horse race.
There is talk he will work on a sheep farm and take painting lessons in an Aboriginal community.
Harry enrolled at exclusive Eton College five years ago, shortly after his mother was killed in a Paris car crash. He will join the army next year and take a place at the Royal Military Academy at Sandhurst.
It's his first trip abroad without his father or another member of the royal family.
In 1966, Prince Charles did a stint at Timbertop, the backwoods campus of Melbourne's exclusive Geelong Grammar School. Charles then went on to Cambridge University to study history.
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