Anthony Albanese spent $129k for King Charles coronation trip as travel bill racks up

Australian taxpayers forked out more than $129,000 for the Prime Minister to attend King Charles III’s coronation last year, adding to a travel bill of more than $2 million for Anthony Albanese’s first year in office.

New figures released by the Independent Parliamentary Expenses Authority (IPEA) show the high flyers and biggest spenders in Government, including more than $1.8 million spent by the Prime Minister and his staff travelling across the world in the six months to June 2023.

Mr Albanese and his office spent $129,252 on a 19-day trip to the United Kingdom and United Arab Emirates, which included a stop off at the Royal Coronation on May 6, 2023.

At the time he said on social media it was an “honour” to attend the event, where Chelsea forward and Matildas Captain Sam Kerr was Australia’s flag bearer.

It is understood Mr Albanese also made use of the trip to visit submarine builders in Barrow-in-Furness and spent time visiting London businesses that could benefit from the Australian-UK free trade agreement.

But the coronation trip wasn’t Mr Albanese’s most expensive in that period.

The Prime Minister spent more than $154,000 on his trip to the ASEAN-Australia Summit that also included the G20 and APEC meetings.

In September 2022, the Prime Minister attended Queen Elizabeth II’s funeral, which cost taxpayers about $159,088.

That figure also covered a stop in the United Arab Emirates, Singapore and employee travel expenses.

It was reported at the time Mr Albanese was accompanied by 19 other people — including his partner Jodie Haydon and one press secretary — to the funeral.

In the three months to June 2023, more than $780,000 was reported as expenditure on staff travel for about 69 employees.

The latest batch of MP expenses, published earlier this month, covered the period from April to June 2023.

Between January and June last year, Opposition Leader Peter Dutton spent more than $950,000 on travel.

He undertook an official trip to the USA, as well as attending meetings and forums across Indonesia, India and Korea.

Employment Minister Tony Burke’s team spent more than $200,000 on travel between April and June last year.

And Education Minister Jason Clare spent more than $240,000 on travel for himself and his team in the same period, which included an eight-day trip to the USA at a cost of $52,713 for an international teaching summit.

Controversy erupted earlier this year after it emerged Mr Burke had racked up a $57,000 bill on a four-day trip to the US in July 2022.

Trade and Tourism Minister Don Farrell and his staff reported travel expenditure of more than $300,000 in the three months to June 2023, which included trips to the US, Asia and Europe.

A Government spokesperson told The West Australian all travel undertaken complied with the “stringent rules” of the IPEA.