SA’s Premier and MPs are racking up travel bills on business class trips to China, Iceland and Japan
Our pollies are living it up in luxury with grand views and swimming pools as they promote the state overseas. See who stayed where – and what you, the taxpayer, forked out.
SA News
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Jetsetting South Australian politicians and bureaucrats are racking up more than $11k a week in overseas travel costs including luxury stays and business class treatment.
In the past six months, the state government spent more than $290,000 of taxpayers money on international trips including a MP and two bureaucrats staying at a Shanghai hotel with a $2600 price tag.
The two-night stay at the historic Fairmont Peace Hotel, described as a landmark spot that has “historically served as a glamorous playground for the elite” for over a century, cost $882 per person.
Travel receipts tabled in state parliament last week by Trade and Investment Minister Joe Szakacs showed the six-day trip to China in April this year cost more than $45,000.
Mr Szakacs, his senior adviser Angus Cavanough and State Development Department assistant executive director Tim White all flew business class at $13,500 each to advance “trade and diplomatic objectives”.
Separate travel receipts showed Premier Peter Malinauskas and his entourage stayed at a famous hotel overlooking Mumbai harbour on an almost $50,000 trip to India during late March.
All four members of the group travelled on business class flights to Delhi, Hyderabad and Mumbai, where the Premier wooed India’s “man of steel” JSW Steel chairman Sajjan Jindal at his mansion.
The Premier’s group stayed at the luxurious five-star The Taj Mahal Palace in Mumbai – described on its website as the “leading harbour icon in India” with a “regal view of the Gateway of India and the Arabian Sea”.
Ongoing state politician travel disclosures since December last year revealed numerous trips were taken by SA’s MPs, costing taxpayers tens of thousands of dollars and including exotic travel locations from Iceland to Osaka in Japan.
In December last year, the state Opposition claimed its analysis showed taxpayers had paid more than $2m on domestic and overseas travel for Mr Malinauskas and his cabinet since Labor took office nearly three years ago.
Lodged travel expenses showed that in late January, Mr Szakacs’ also travelled to India with two senior bureaucrats.
The trip cost more than $56,000 and included three nights at the Park Hyatt in Mumbai with a bill for $1620 each.
A West Coast leadership conference in the US was attended by both Treasurer Stephen Mullighan and Opposition Leader Vincent Tarzia in January, costing the state more than $40,000.
Mr Mullighan flew business class – and Mr Tarzia flew premium economy.
SA POLITICANS’ TRAVEL COSTS REVEALED
Tokyo and Osaka, Japan, and Jinan, China
Cost: $42,835
Dates: April 13 to April 19, 2025
Deputy Premier Susan Close took her adviser Claire Woods and State Development Department chief executive Adam Reid to Japan and China, racking up more than $36,000 in business class flight costs.
Their trip centred around Ms Close launching “South Australia’s presence at Osaka World Expo” and undertaking “a state-level visit” to SA’s sister state Shandong, with the group crossing paths with Trade and Investment Minister Joe Szakacs along the way.
Two-nights at the five-star Pullman Tokyo Tamachi Hotel cost taxpayers $1,133 for each traveller.
Travel documents showed there were many “high-level meetings and engagements” including with the Deputy Head of Mission for Australia in Japan, Mitsubishi Heavy Industries, a Space Industry Roundtable, Nippon Steel, the Australian Commissioner-General for World Expo and the Governor of Okayama.
Ms Close was also keynote guest speaker at the Australia and New Zealand Chamber of Commerce’s Japan Business Breakfast.
Shanghai and Qingdao, China
Cost: $45,463
Dates: April 13 to April 19, 2025
Trade and Investment Minister Joe Szakacs along with adviser Angus Cavanough and State Development Department assistant chief executive Tim White flew on business class tickets to China costing $13,500 each.
Among their accommodation spots was two nights at the luxury Fairmont Peace Hotel in Shanghai for $872 per person and the Shangri-La in Qingdao for $403 a night.
The Fairmont Peace Hotel has four restaurants and lounges including the “endeared Jazz Bar”, a pool, gym and a ninth-floor terrace with “unrivalled panoramic views”.
Mr Szakacs said the trip advanced “key trade and diplomatic objectives”, including progressing airfreight discussions with China Eastern in Shanghai, renewing government and commercial ties in Qingdao and Yantai, and deepening SA’s sister-state relationship with Shandong.
He also launched a new wine campaign in China.
Reykjavik, Iceland
Cost: $33,693
Dates: March 21 to March 29, 2025
Education Minister Blair Boyer and his chief of staff Nic Kimberley racked up more than $33,000 in costs so Mr Boyer could represent the Australian Government at an international teaching summit in Iceland.
Accommodation costs were $474 for the minister after conference organisers paid part of his bill and $1089 for Ms Kimberley during the trip. Their business class flights cost $16,000 each.
Mr Boyer delivered a speech on behalf of the federal government at the summit about the rise of AI, early childhood education and teacher shortages.
He met education and skills chiefs in Iceland and ministers from across the globe, reaching an agreement to share the state’s EdChat AI resource and early years curriculum, and to partner with other countries on mathematics education.
Mumbia, India
Cost: $49,610
Dates: March 23 – March 29, 2025
Premier Peter Malinauskas travelled to India to raise the profile of SA as an international study destination, to explore the “possibility of direct flights between Adelaide and India” and to promote the state’s clean energy transition.
He took his media and communications director Adam Todd, senior adviser Catherine Blaikie and Premier and Cabinet Department chief executive officer Rick Persse.
All travelled business class and hotel stays included two nights at the historic, five-star-luxury hotel The Taj Mahal Palace in Mumbai costing $942.90 for each person.
Its website boasts of having “nine legendary bars and restaurants”, a pool, and “since 1903, our luxury hotel in Mumbai has hosted illustrious guests including royalty and dignitaries”.
The trip included meetings with the Ministry of Steel secretary, Minister of Commerce and Industry, Australia’s high commissioner to India, HCL Tech, Tata Group, and GMR Group along with “engagements” at the Mumbai Cricket Association and a Sikh house of worship.
Seattle and San Francisco, the US
Cost: $41,625
Dates: January 11 – January 15, 2025
Treasurer and Defence and Space Minister Stephen Mullighan’s racked up a $22,719 bill and Opposition Leader Vincent Tarzia $18,906 travelling to the US.
Mr Mullighan logged a solo return business class flight to Seattle costing $17,219 so he could be at the 2025 West Coast Leadership Dialogue.
It was flagged as international stakeholder engagement “particularly with the United States and United Kingdom” that is “deemed essential under AUKUS”.
His four nights at the luxury, waterfront Four Seasons hotel in Seattle cost $2,296 and one night at the Sheraton in San Francisco cost $1,119.
The same accommodation was picked by Opposition Leader Vincent Tarzia who also attended the event – but Mr Tarzia flew premium economy with a $14,217 price tag.
Dubai, Mumbai and New Delhi, India
Cost: $56,643
Dates: January 22 to February 2, 2025
Trade and Investment Minister Joe Szakacs travelled to Dubai, Mumbai and New Delhi in India with his senior adviser Angus Cavanough and State Development Department assistant executive director Tim White.
Three nights at the Park Hyatt Dubai cost $1620 each as the three met numerous high-level groups to promote trade and investment between the United Arab Emirates (UAE), India and SA.
This included building on the Australia-UAE Comprehensive Economic Partnership Agreement (CEPA), signed on November 6, 2024.
Mr Szakac also laid a wreath at the Delhi War Memorial in his role as Veterans Affairs Minister.
Business class airfares racked up $14,613 for each traveller.
Singapore
Cost: $23,236
Dates: December 16 to December 20, 2024
Trade and Investment Minister Joe Szakacs travelled business class to Singapore with his chief of staff Daniel Wills and Invest SA executive director Chris Wood in December last year – with plane tickets around $6000 a pop.
The three stayed at the Pan Pacific hotel with its lavish rooms, dining areas and pool, each billing $1584 for their three-night stay.
They met with leading green energy, hydrogen, wine and seafood industry representatives and the Singaporean Government, along with the Singaporean Economic Development Board, Motor Sport Singapore and Singapore Airlines.
Mr Szakacs said he was promoting trade and investment including “delivery of the state’s housing road map” and, in his role as Veterans Affairs Minister, Mr Szakacs laid a wreath as a tribute to service men and women at the Kranji War Memorial.
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