ACCC bosses spent close to $50k on overseas trips to Brazil, France, Poland

Taxpayers have been slugged close to $50k so the bosses of the ACCC could go on all-expenses paid international jaunts to Europe and South America. See the itineraries here.

Taxpayers have been slugged close to $50k so the bosses of the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission could go on all-expenses paid international jaunts to Europe and South America.

Tens of thousands of dollars in expense claims were released by the ACCC to the public on Christmas Eve, after the deputy chair of the commission, Catriona Lowe, travelled to Europe twice in consecutive months for events in Poland and Paris in April and May this year.

Deputy Chair Catriona Lowe.

Documents, released under Freedom of Information requests, revealed Lowe spent $25700 in taxpayer funds for the trips, staying in the four-star Radisson Hotel and Suites in Poland, and the four-star, inner-city Parisian digs at the Hotel Maison near the Eiffel Tower in the 16th Arrondissement.

Views from the hotel maison FL in Paris.

According to the document release, Ms Lowe visited Poland for the ICPEN “empowering responsible consumer choises summit” from May 6 to 10 for “high level meetings and best practice workshops”.

But the deputy chair has been outdone by ACCC chairperson, Gina Cass-Gottlieb, who spent $23,987 on a single trip to a conference in Brazil.

The chairperson, appointed to the commission in March 2022, stayed in the all-inclusive Sauipe Resorts Ala Terra in Costa Do Saupe, Brazil for three nights for the International Competition Network’s annual conference.

Ms Cass-Gottlieb took a mixture of five business-class and premium economy flights to the tune of $22,229 from New York to Washington, Sao Paulo to Salvador.

Australian Competition and Consumer Commission Chair Gina Cass-Gottleib. Jane Dempster/The Australian.

The ICN annual conference in Brazil offered a “unique opportunity to convene competition authorities and experts from around the globe, facilitating discussions on the latest and most relevant issues in competition law enforcement and policy”.

“Our goal is to foster collaboration, share valuable experiences, and promote global cooperation in the field of competition,” a statement regarding the event said at the time.

The conference was hosted in the beachside resort town, north of Santo Antonio, Brazil in May.

Sauipe Resorts Ala Terra in Costa Do Saupe

Shadow Government Waste Reduction spokesman James Stevens said “public servants should only travel overseas when absolutely necessary, as every time they do, it is the Australian taxpayer who foots the bill”.

“Spending $25,000 per person on an overseas trip is but a distant dream for everyday Australians,” he told The Sunday Telegraph.

“It is no wonder our bureaucrats have adopted the Albanese Government’s culture of lavish expenditure.”

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An ACCC spokesman said the chair and deputy chair travelled internationally “to attend meetings concerning competition and consumer protection matters”.

“This included meetings with other heads of competition agencies,” he said. “Collaboration and establishing relationships with overseas counterparts is essential to effective regulation in a global economy.

“All travel undertaken ... comply with all relevant guidelines.”

Originally published as ACCC bosses spent close to $50k on overseas trips to Brazil, France, Poland