Fairfax reports DFAT flew 23 staff to Paris on business class flights and paid for their accommodation at a four-star hotel for the three day conference. It estimated the cost of the trip to be around $200,000....The department said 23 Australian-based staff were sent to the Paris conference, held at the Australian embassy, but 46 staff in total attended.
The Federal Opposition has grilled the Department of Foreign Affairs (DFAT) over why it flew more than 20 staff from Canberra to Paris for a training conference.Ms Wong asked department officials whether they thought about using Skype or video conferencing instead.She asked the department's John Fisher about a Fairfax media report that the conference was focused on strategies for saving money."Did the purpose of the conference include talking about ways to save money?""Yes senator," he responded."So you flew people to Paris to discuss saving money?" he was asked."We flew people to Paris to talk about how we might do things in a more effective way," Mr Fisher said.
