Communications Minister Anika Wells billed taxpayers $70,000 to host an event in New York spruiking Australia’s teen social media ban after her team spent almost $100,000 on flights to attend the United Nations General Assembly.
Wells and a staff member flew to the September meeting after delaying her departure following the Optus Triple Zero outage that was linked to three deaths when calls to emergency services would not connect. A senior public servant also flew to New York earlier as planned.
Communications Minister Annika Wells travelled to New York to spruik Australia’s landmark teen social media ban.Credit: Alex Ellinghausen
Wells had been supposed to fly with the prime minister earlier in the week and came under fire for still going on the trip after the Triple Zero outage.
The costs of her travel were revealed late on Thursday when the government replied to an opposition question on notice from Senate estimates in October.
Wells’ return commercial flights to New York cost $34,426.58, her deputy chief of staff’s cost $38,165, and the online safety assistant secretary, who flew two days earlier, cost $22,236.31. A first-class Qantas return flight from Canberra to New York, searching for the following day, and found it would cost about $16,000. Flight costs are variable due to timing and seasonal changes.
Accommodation and transport costs for the trio in New York were $US15,985 ($24,275).
The government hosted an event at UN headquarters on protecting children in the digital age, which cost $US45,744.11 ($69,500). Prime Minister Anthony Albanese addressed the UN General Assembly about the teen social media ban in the Delegates Dining Room, which boasts a waterfront backdrop over New York’s East River.
Wells said at the time that there were several world leaders at the event, including the president of the European Commission and prime ministers from Greece, Malta, Fiji and Tonga, among others.
