Peter Dutton’s taxpayer-funded flight to ‘long lunch’ on Noosa River was investigated by expenses watchdog

Guests at the ‘long lunch’, including Peter Dutton, were ferried to the private Makepeace Island from Noosa marina in Queensland and returned four or nearly five hours later. Photograph: Jono Searle/AAP

The expenses watchdog launched an investigation into then-home affairs minister Peter Dutton’s use of a taxpayer-funded flight to attend a “long lunch” on a luxury island on the Noosa River in 2019, internal documents reveal.

Dutton billed taxpayers $465 for a flight from Sydney to Maroochydore on 19 July 2019, the same day he was to appear alongside the then-Queensland opposition leader, Deb Frecklington, as a special guest at a private event on Makepeace Island, a resort island part-owned by Richard Branson.