Australia's energy minister has accused the coalition of being unpatriotic, as he defended taxpayer-funded travel and staffing costs for a major climate conference.
Chris Bowen is due to spend more than $150 million on the United Nations' 31st Conference of the Parties meeting, known as COP31, in his role as president of negotiations.
While Australia is not hosting the annual summit, it is chairing the talks with Pacific nations as part of a diplomatic compromise with Turkey struck in 2025.
Staff were allowed to spend $485,602 on travel relating to the UN negotiations including Turkey, Fiji, Germany and Korea in January and February, according to documents obtained by The Australian.
Opposition energy spokesman Dan Tehan said there were issues with the cost of chairing the talks, labelling it a vanity project, and that there were concerns with international travel expenses racked up during a cost-of-living crisis.
