High-flying Melbourne councils are spending big on international travel

Some of Melbourne’s local councils are making a global footprint as they rack up huge bills, borne by ratepayers, for overseas travel. Which councils are the biggest spenders?

Some Victorian councils are spending big on overseas gravel. Picture: News Corp Australia

Melbourne councils have spent more than $100,000 sending globetrotting councillors on trips overseas in recent years.

The City of Casey, covering the outer southeastern suburbs, is one council to have caught the travel bug, spending $55,000 in jaunts to New York and China this year alone.

And council mayors and their deputies have racked up travel bills of more than $10,000 each.

Three Casey councillors and two officers will travel to the Big Apple this month for a Digital Workforce Summit at a cost of $40,000.

The council also plans to spend $15,000 to send a councillor, an officer and one consultant to China in June.

The money will cover airfares, accommodation, meals and transport.

Additionally, the council will send two singers at a total cost of $3000 to represent the district at a Chinese music festival in July.

It comes as Casey ratepayers kicked in $45,000 to send councillors and staff to China as part of a soccer study junket last year.

In a bid to strengthen commercial, educational and tourism links to the Asian nation, the April 2018 soccer exchange program came as part of the broader China Engagement Strategy.

And in the City of Melbourne, Lord Mayor Sally Capp recently returned from a $13,000 jaunt to China and Indonesia on a council business mission.

Ms Capp travelled with mayors from Whitehorse, Ballarat and Maribyrnong for the 10-day trip in May.

At the time the Lord Mayor said the travel would work to strengthen Melbourne’s relationship with the countries — a vital part of advancing the city’s prosperity.

Meanwhile former deputy lord mayor Susan Riley represented the city at a global food innovation summit in Milan last month for $13,230

She also attended the Smart City Expo World Congress in Barcelona last November at a cost of $9523.

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Councillor Kevin Louey billed the ratepayers $4500 to travel to Osaka to take part in a business partnership roundtable in August last year.

And Greens councillor Cathy Oke is due to fly to Vancouver for an environmental summit in October at a cost of $2000 after returning from an urban development conference in Montreal last June costing almost $4000.