Australian taxpayers billed $4 million to send public servants to international climate and environment talks

Taxpayers have been billed more than $4 million to send public servants to international climate and environment meetings since the Albanese Government came to office, new figures reveal. The sum includes more than $177,000 to pay for three bureaucrats to attend a week-long United Nations water conference in New York. The opposition has described the trip’s cost as “breathtaking” and an insult to all Australians struggling under cost-of-living pressure. The new Labor Government made it a top priority to rebuild Australia’s international reputation on climate action and environmental preservation, which it said was battered under Scott Morrison and the Coalition. While Climate Change Minister Chris Bowen and Environment Minister Tanya Plibersek are leading the repair job, a small army of public servants work behind the scenes to push along the Government’s agenda. Figures from the Department of Climate Change, Energy, the Environment and Water - which Labor established after last year’s election win - reveal just how much has been spent sending these bureaucrats to meetings, conferences, summits and negotiations in all corners of the world. Between July 1 last year and June 29, the department spent $4.08 million on 150 overseas trips. The costs include airfares, accommodation, ground transport, meals and “incidentals”. The most expensive trip was to attend last November’s UN COP summit in the Egyptian seaside resort town of Sharm El-Sheikh. The department sent a delegation of 31 to the summit - which ran for two weeks - at a cost of at least $781,000. Huge expense bills were also racked for two trips to the US. Sending six public servants on a six-day trip to support Mr Bowen at events in New York and Pittsburgh cost taxpayers $145,651, the figures show. Just three staff attended the UN Water Conference for a week in March – yet the trio managed to rack up an even bigger bill of $177,446. A separate nine-day, three-person trip supporting Mr Bowen in the United Arab Emirates and Europe cost $88,000. The department said the final travel cost for the water conference and COP summit were yet to be finalised, suggesting the real amount could be even higher. Shadow assistant minister for climate change and energy Hollie Hughes, who requested the figures through Senate estimates, said it was important for Australia to be represented at international meetings. But she said the scale of the spending was outrageous, singling out the cost of attending the UN water conference as “insane”. “I don’t think 60,000 per person for three people to go to New York for 7 days would pass a pub test anywhere,” Senator Hughes told The West. “That to be me is breathtaking and an absolute insult to every Australian that is doing it tough today. “The Government should be tightening its belt in the same way that Australian taxpayers are.” Under Finance Department policy, “value for money” is the major consideration for the public service when booking international flights. Officials must choose the “international best fare” - which is the cheapest available on the particular day that “suits the practical needs of the traveller and maximises overall value for money for the total cost of the trip”. Business class is the highest class that can be booked. The West asked the offices of Mr Bowen and Ms Plibersek if the ministers believed the trips represented value for taxpayer money, and for an explanation for the $177,000 bill for the UN water conference. A Department spokesman responded to The West with a statement that did not directly address either question. “Australia is strengthening our multilateral relationships through international engagement that positions Australia as a renewable energy superpower that will deliver economic opportunities,” the statement read. “Australia’s international environment and climate change engagement activities are proportionate to achieving our net zero and nature-positive ambitions. “Departmental international travel is used only when other communication means are deemed ineffective at pursuing the government’s agenda.”