First Nations ambassador and staff spent $730k in taxpayer money for travelling

Justin Mohamed was appointed inaugural First Nations ambassador in 2023 and was tasked with ‘implementing a First Nations approach to foreign policy’. Here’s his office’s travel bill.

First Nations ambassador Justin Mohamed has traveled to Paris, Hawaii and the Solomon Islands, among other destinations, in his first two years in the position.

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Anthony Albanese’s First Nations ambassador has billed taxpayers more than three quarters of a million dollars for travel in just two years in the role and has travelled for a year’s worth of working days.

Justin Mohamed was appointed to be Australia’s inaugural First Nations ambassador in 2023 and was tasked with “implementing a First Nations approach to foreign policy”. The Coalition at the last election pledged to abolish the role if elected to government.

Mr Mohamed has spent $230,085.73 on international travel and $98,795.55 on domestic travel since his appointment in March 2023 to February 2025, the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade said.

His staff spent $291,686.45 on international travel and $109,710.52 in that time.

That adds up to $730,278.25.

Mr Mohamed is also on a $948,937.50 contract with the ­government reportedly for 2½ years, which is equivalent to about $380,000 a year.

In response to a question on notice from Senate estimates, the department also provided details of the 46 trips Mr Mohamed had taken in those two years.

The lengths of those trips add up to 261 days, equivalent to the number of working days in one year.

Destinations on those trips have included New York, Geneva, San Francisco, Dubai, Paris, ­Hawaii, Fiji, and Solomon Islands.

Announcing the creation of the role and Mr Mohamed’s appointment in 2023, Foreign Affairs Minister Penny Wong and then Indigenous Australians minister Linda Burney said Mr Mohamed would “work in genuine partnership with Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people to progress Indigenous rights globally, and help grow First Nations trade and investment”.

“Elevating the perspectives of First Nations people – this land’s first diplomats – enables deeper engagement with many of our closest partners including the ­Pacific family,” they said.

“This new position ensures, for the first time, that Australia will have dedicated Indigenous representation in our international engagement.”

But despite this Pacific focus, just five of Mr Mohamed’s trips have been to Pacific Islands for a collective 33 days of his 261 days of travelling. In comparison, Mr ­Mohamed has spent 68 days travelling in the US and 26 days in ­Geneva and Paris.

The Coalition at the last election pledged to abolish the role if elected to government but foreign affairs spokeswoman Michaelia Cash declined to comment when asked whether this was still ­Coalition policy.

However, opposition outer ministry figure and outspoken Indigenous voice Jacinta Nampijinpa Price told The Australian the spend on Mr Mohamed’s travel was “unjustifiable”.

“In the absence of evidence as to the outcomes being achieved for Indigenous Australians by the ambassador, this kind of travel and expenditure is exorbitant,” she said.

“Since his appointment, it remains unclear how disadvantage suffered by marginalised Indigenous Australians is being improved by the ambassador.

“Given how much work remains to be done in order to close the gap between marginalised and non-marginalised, this kind of spending is unjustifiable,” the senator said.

A spokeswoman for Senator Wong said Mr Mohamed had been “working hard to assist First Nations businesspeople to navigate, and benefit from, international trade rules and to overcome intellectual property challenges – all of which helps strengthen Australia’s economy”.

“After a lost decade under the Coalition, the Albanese government is doing everything we can to strengthen our ties with the Pacific and that includes involving First Nations people.

“First Nations people have longstanding connections and historical ties that help ground us in the Pacific region, and our First Nations international engagement is a unique element of our national power that cannot be replicated by other countries.

“Ambassador Mohamed has engaged a broad range of Indo-Pacific leaders both in the region and in Australia including from PNG, Solomon Islands, Fiji, Vanuatu, Tuvalu and the Republic of the Marshall Islands.”