High cost of Kevin Rudd’s company for return of Julian Assange
Taxpayers forked out more than $100,000 to return Julian Assange home, with the bill blowing out by nearly 30 per cent because Kevin Rudd accompanied the convicted criminal on his flight into Canberra.
Taxpayers forked out more than $100,000 to return Julian Assange home, with the bill blowing out by nearly 30 per cent because Australia’s ambassador to the US Kevin Rudd accompanied the convicted criminal on his flight into Canberra.
Documents provided to the Senate reveal the charter flight from Britain to Australia, via a court hearing in a US territory in an island in the Western Pacific, cost a total of $781,480.
This was paid for by the Wau Holland Foundation, but taxpayers were left to fund additional travel costs from Assange being accompanied by Mr Rudd and Australia’s high commissioner to Britain, Stephen Smith.
Mr Rudd’s “additional commercial travel costs” were $29,268 while Mr Smith’s were $17,807. Travel costs amounted to $55,403 for other officials at the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade.
Liberal senator Dave Sharma said Assange’s flight home “must be one of the most expensive staged photo ops ever undertaken”.
“There is serious work for our heads of mission in Washington and London to perform,” Senator Sharma said.
“Escorting someone convicted of espionage against one of our closest allies, at vast expense to the taxpayer, should never have happened. It’s a complete failure of foreign policy priorities by the Albanese government.”
In a letter released to the Senate, Foreign Minister Penny Wong said Assange's release was only made possible due to a plea agreement between the fugitive and the US Department of Justice.
She said it was a requirement of the plea deal for Mr Smith to accompany Assange, but she did not make the same claim about Mr Rudd’s attendance.
“A condition of Mr Assange’s bail was that he would be accompanied by High Commissioner Smith to a US jurisdiction, while Ambassador Rudd has played a central role in bringing the two sides together and travelled to Saipan to ensure arrangements with the Department of Justice proceeded as agreed,” Senator Wong wrote.
“While in Australia, High Commissioner Smith and Ambassador Rudd undertook meetings about AUKUS and other arrangements as well. Ambassador Rudd also undertook meetings with Governor Palacios of the US Commonwealth of Northern Mariana Islands during his time in Saipan.”
While the return of Assange to Australia had bipartisan support, Anthony Albanese was accused by the Coalition of treating him as a “hero”. Opposition foreign affairs spokesman Simon Birmingham last month accused the Prime Minister of a “grave error of judgment” for phoning Assange after he landed.
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