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Labor chief minister Tony Burke says his $57,000 taxpayer-funded four-day trip to the United States was much busier and more energetic than his understated ministerial diary suggests.
Burke, Arts and Workplace Relations Minister and House Leader, is at the center of controversy after he was criticized over the cost of his trip to Washington.
His sparse diary shows only a handful of travel entries, and even includes a 15-minute trip from his accommodation as one of three official matters that day.
But Burke now claims that he was also involved in important key meetings that were not included in his official diary entries.
He flew to the United States with a member of staff, traveling in business class, as part of a delegation with Deputy Prime Minister Richard Marles to the Australian-American Leadership Dialogue.
Their official diary for the event (July 11-15, 2022) suggests the trip wasn’t too onerous with just a handful of commitments, including a barbecue breakfast, a three-hour dinner, and two 20-hour Microsoft Teams meetings. minutes.
Among the handful of commitments listed is a 15-minute time slot dedicated to “leaving” his accommodation to go to another address, one of three official business he conducted that day.
Burke had one official meeting on his agenda during the four days. It was a meeting with Wisconsin Senator Tammy Baldwin, a member of a committee on labor and pensions in the United States.
Burke (right), Arts and Workplace Relations Minister and House Leader, is at the center of controversy after he was criticized over the cost of his trip to Washington.
Burke’s diary for 2022 recorded all of his commitments from July 11 to 15, when he joined Deputy Prime Minister Richard Marles in Washington for the Australian-American Leadership Dialogue.
Burke is Minister of the Arts and attends plays and musicals as such. Pictured with his wife and former staff member, Skye Laris.
But beyond that, Mr. Burke’s usually busy schedule was almost completely clear.
He had a day off on Tuesday with no scheduled commitments, nothing more than his 20-minute Teams meeting and dinner on Wednesday, and only 3.5 hours of commitments on Friday.
But Mr Burke has since argued that it was a vital trip for him and that “it was in the national interest”.
Speaking at a gate after the Daily Telegraph revealed he spent $57,000 of taxpayers’ money on the trip, Burke said: “There are aspects of today’s story that have been left out that really explain the importance of that trip.”
Arts Minister Tony Burke has justified his four-day, $57,000 trip by insisting he had several meetings that were not included in his professional diary.
Burke has since argued that it was a vital trip for him and that “it was in the national interest.”
‘We have very important legislation that now has to do with AUKUS and there had to be meetings about it. Today’s article has not referred to the meetings that were held at the White House.
‘He has not referred to the meetings that were held with the AUKUS group, which is from the other side of the aisle, and he has only referred to one of the meetings with individual congressmen.
“I’m not very fond of that, I can only say that it was an important trip in the national interest. My decision when I spoke to the Prime Minister was to make sure that both the Minister of Defense and myself as Leader of the House were there, and that It was the right thing.’
A graph shows how much Tony Burke spent while in the United States.
While Marles was regularly photographed speaking and attending formal events, Burke went largely unnoticed during the trip. There is only one photograph of him in the public record abroad.
Burke plays a key role in passing legislation as Albanese’s top lieutenant in the House of Representatives, where he has a majority, but his portfolios are not the main ones driving the government’s AUKUS policy.
Burke still billed taxpayers twice what Marles billed, including $44,000 in return business class flights for himself and a staff member, and more than $8,000 in rental cars.
An additional $4,000 was spent on food and lodging, while both Mr. Burke and his staff demanded priority delegate passports, at a cost of $533 each.
Below, Daily Mail Australia takes a closer look at the work Burke did during those four days, based on the content of his own diary that week.
DAY ONE
On July 11, Burke left Sydney on a United Airlines flight at 9.30am, seated in business class with a personal employee.
He arrived in Los Angeles at 11 p.m. and traveled to Washington.
The first full day of their trip was Tuesday, July 12.
That day, Mr. Burke did not have any events scheduled in his official diary.
On July 11, Burke left Sydney on a United Airlines flight at 9:30 a.m., seated in business class with a personal employee.
DAY TWO
Wednesday, July 13 marked the official start of formalities for Mr. Burke.
He held a 20-minute briefing with his department via Teams from 7am to 7:20am Sydney time, approximately 3pm to 3:20pm in his time zone.
Her next official diary engagement was not until five p.m. local time, when she met Richard Marles for dinner at the Australian ambassador’s residence.
DAY THREE
Mr. Burke’s work commitments, according to his diary, began again at around 3:00 pm local time on the third day, July 14.
He met with Wisconsin Senator Tammy Baldwin, who sits on a US Labor and Pensions committee.
From there, he attended a three-hour dinner at the United States Institute of Peace to celebrate the forum’s 30th anniversary.
DAY FOUR
On Mr. Burke’s last day in the US, he again held another departmental briefing via Microsoft Teams in the afternoon.
From there, he joined his colleagues at a closing barbecue at the Ambassador’s home. He then left for the Jefferson Hotel with his driver.
He left Saturday and returned home on a United Airlines flight.
He arrived at Sydney Airport at 7am, where he had a government Comcar waiting to take him home.
He joined his colleagues at a closing barbecue at the Ambassador’s home (pictured)
Minister faced backlash over previous taxpayer bills
Minister Burke has previously faced intense scrutiny over his spending habits.
In 2020, it was revealed that he had quietly returned $8,600 to taxpayers for a much-criticized trip to Uluru he took with his family in 2012.
He charged the taxpayer for business class tickets for himself and four “family travelers.”
He also billed taxpayers for travel expenses of $1,497 and $463 for a rental car, bringing the total trip expense to $12,707.
During Labour’s last period in government, Burke’s taxpayer bill for travel costs was close to $2.2 million between 2008 and 2015.
This despite never having worked in the portfolios with the most reasons to travel: foreign affairs, trade, treasury or defense.
None of these trips breached parliament’s code of conduct.