Climate change minister Chris Bowen spent $30,564 of taxpayers’ money on flights to three international environmental conferences in less than six months, all while urging Australians to cut emissions.
Documents released by the Independent Parliamentary Expenses Authority last week revealed that Bowen billed taxpayers $19,204 for a trip to Japan, India, South Korea, Malaysia and Singapore for a G20 environmental meeting last July.
He posted a single photo from the trip on social media, with a caption saying he had spent a “busy few days promoting Australia as a renewable energy superpower” and had met with other climate ministers to “call for greater ambition on clean energy”.
A month later, in August, he claimed $9,343 for a three-day trip to Fiji for the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change.
Bowen then charged taxpayers another $2,017 for two trips to Dubai in November and December for COP28, the UN climate change conference, during which he came under heavy criticism.
The carbon emissions from those trips alone increased Bowen’s carbon footprint by approximately 47 tonnes.
At the conference, Mr Bowen boldly called for a complete end to coal and gas-based energy, but other nations rejected this proposal outright.
Chris Bowen is pictured with Deputy Minister for Climate Change Jenny McAllister at COP28 in December 2023
Climate Change and Energy Minister Chris Bowen at the COP28 conference in Dubai
“We have to face this fact head on,” he told the UN meeting. “If we want to maintain the 1.5 degree increase, fossil fuels have no role to play in our energy systems.
“I speak as the Minister for Climate and Energy of one of the world’s largest exporters of fossil fuels.”
But as Bowen flew in from the two-week summit in Dubai, the conference released a draft agreement that failed to promise to end fossil fuels and was so watered down in its commitments that climate advocates called it a “shameful and disgraceful failure.”
He was also criticised because his speech at the Dubai conference began with a modified Acknowledgement of Country, which is normally used to honour Aboriginal traditional owners.
Despite air travel around the world being high on CO2 emissions, Bowen has insisted Australians should be subject to fuel efficiency standards to reduce emissions from 2025, which means imposing carbon penalties on certain vehicle models.
Owners of Australia’s best-selling car in 2023, the Ford Ranger, could potentially find themselves paying an extra $6,150 due to the fine, according to estimates compiled by the Federal Chamber of Automotive Industries.
A graphic mock-up of Chris Bowen’s travels abroad
Chris Bowen is pictured, centre, at the G20 conference, which took place in India, Korea and Japan.
Chris Bowen is pictured at a G20 meeting in India in July 2023
Mr. Bowen’s other expenses for the October-December 2023 quarter included $16,596 on commercial airline for intestate travel, $3,815 on private automobile expenses and $125,529 on printing and communications.
Mr. Bowen took ten employees on trips with him during that same quarter at a cost of $138,661: $113,054 of that amount was on domestic travel and the remaining $25,607 was on international travel.
His total expenses for the quarter were $431,285, almost double the amount he reported for the final quarter of 2022, during which he spent $269,997.
Last year, Mr. Bowen was criticized for take his own private jet to attend a climate announcement instead of hitchhiking with Anthony Albanese.
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