Floral displays for nearly $20,000 and a $44,000 performance by singer Jessica Mauboy were just some of the items the Albanese government spent taxpayers’ money on this year.
Mauboy gave a closed-door performance for Mr Albanese and fellow politicians at the ASEAN-Australia Special Summit at the National Gallery of Victoria in March, where Melbourne business Flowers Vasette provided the floral arrangements for $19,723.
A 12m-long floral centrepiece on the Great Hall dining table cost $7,260, flowers for a ‘media wall’ at the entrance cost $2,750 and $1,100 was spent on ‘arrival florals’ and gold plinths, according to Freedom of Information documents obtained by the Herald Sun.
The Melbourne venue cost $41,649 to hire, catering for the three-day event topped $45,000 and a further $23,000 was spent on hotels and other facilities for related meetings held in Canberra.
Liberal Member for Sturt, James Stevens, told the Daily Telegraph that ‘Australians were struggling to put food on their table [while] Anthony Albanese is putting $20,000 of flowers on his’.
The Department of the Prime Minister and Cabinet defended the expense.
‘In 2023, Australia’s two-way trade with ASEAN nations amounted to $183.4bn, with the summit highlighting the importance of our commercial relationship and strategic ties with ASEAN,’ a spokesperson said.
‘All procurement related to the summit was undertaken in accordance with Commonwealth procurement rules.
The Labor government spent $44,000 of taxpayer cash to have Aussie singer Jessica Mauboy perform for Southeast Asian leaders at an ASEAN special summit in Melbourne
Nearly $20,000 of taxpayer funds were used for floral displays at the three-day meeting
‘Expenditure on the Summit was in line with similar-sized events, including the 2018 ASEAN-Australia Special Summit in Sydney.
‘Costs included staffing, venue hire, entertainment, IT, security, transport and accommodation to support well over 1,000 delegates.’
A crocodile and a koala were also transported in and made a brief appearance at the event.
Among the leaders attending the meeting were then-outgoing Indonesian President Joko Widodo and the now former Thailand Prime Minister Srettha Thavisin.
The PM spoke with Singapore’s Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong to spruik new agreements on border security, electricity and shipping corridors.
Maritime operations and security were a key focus of the summit, with China’s influence in the region and territorial disputes in the South China Sea a focus of the gathering.
Chinese President Xi Jinping was not in attendance.
Mr Albanese was keen to keep the focus on Australia’s $2billion boost to encourage trade and investment in Southeast Asia, saying it would create new jobs at home.
‘It is in our national interest, one in four of Australia’s jobs are trade dependent,’ he said at the time.
The $2billion Southeast Asia Investment Financing Facility will provide loans and insurance to business, with a focus on clean energy and infrastructure development.
The Albanese government defended the expense saying trade relations with Southeast Asian neighbours contributed billions of dollars to the Australian economy
Other announcements included more spending on an infrastructure development program, better on-the-ground support for Australian businesses overseas and visa extensions.
Two-way trade between ASEAN nations and Australia passed $178billion in 2022, greater than that of the US or Japan.
Shadow foreign minister Simon Birmingham at the time welcomed the $2billion trade boost announcement.
‘It makes enormous sense and (there are) great opportunities for Australia to grow and strengthen two-way investment ties with Southeast Asia,’ he told Sky News.
The Business Council of Australia also welcomed the plan while the Australian Council for International Development was cautious, asking for further details about how the financing program would work.
