Communications Minister Anika Wells' business class flights to New York for a three-day work trip, along with her staffer, were initially projected to cost taxpayers tens of thousands of dollars before last-minute changes related to the Optus crisis.
The total cost of Ms. Wells' trip, including flights and accommodation, was reported to be over $120,000.
This amount included $22,236 for flights for the assistant secretary for online safety and approximately $24,000 for accommodation and transport.
Initial Flight Bookings and Early Changes
Documents from the Independent Parliamentary Expenses Authority (IPEA) revealed that return flights from Australia to New York for Ms. Wells and her deputy chief of staff were initially booked for $65,995.68. This booking was made about 10 days before her planned departure on September 20 last year. Due to last-minute itinerary changes, the final cost for Ms. Wells and her staffer increased to $72,592.44.
Initial bookings on September 9 included Qantas business class flights from New York to Melbourne for $18,002.51 for Ms. Wells and $20,629.79 for her staffer. A more complete itinerary finalized on September 10, adding the Brisbane to New York leg, brought the initial total to $31,684.20 for Ms. Wells and $34,311.48 for her staffer. The Brisbane to New York leg was later cancelled as Ms. Wells was scheduled to travel with Prime Minister Anthony Albanese on the special purpose aircraft.
Impact of the Optus Crisis
However, the Optus Triple Zero service outage, announced the day before her scheduled departure, led Ms. Wells to remain in Australia for two additional days to respond to the crisis. This necessitated new flight arrangements, as she was unable to use the prime minister's aircraft.
On September 20, last-minute Air New Zealand business class flights were ticketed. These included $16,424.07 for Ms. Wells (Brisbane to New York via Auckland) and $17,536.07 for her adviser. These changes increased the total travel cost for Ms. Wells to $34,426.58 and for her staffer to $38,165.86.
Defense and Criticism
Ms. Wells defended her travel, stating in December that her participation in an online child safety event at the United Nations was important and contributed to global momentum on the issue. Opposition communications spokesperson Melissa McIntosh criticized Ms. Wells for attending the trip during the Triple Zero crisis. Ms. Wells has since referred all her expenses to IPEA for an audit.