Minister refuses to explain $100,000 New York flights to spruik social media ban

Communications Minister Anika Wells has refused to be drawn on her $190,000 trip to New York to spruik the government’s teen social media ban, insisting she and her staff were doing important work at the United Nations to defend Australian children.

In an at times hostile National Press Club appearance on Wednesday, the minister refused to say whether the cost of her team’s September trip was value for money.

Wells billed taxpayers $70,000 to host an event while she was in New York, after she, a staffer and a public servant spent almost $100,000 on flights to attend the United Nations General Assembly. The minister and her staff member flew to New York after delaying their departure due to the Optus Triple Zero outage that was linked to three deaths when calls to emergency services would not connect. The senior public servant flew to New York as planned.

“The reason you know all those things [the cost of the New York trip] is because we’re transparent about them, and we will disclose them, and we’ll continue to disclose information about that trip through the usual processes,” Wells said at the press club.

“That event fuelled a global momentum in this space. You have seen a number of different jurisdictions come out from that moment, to as recently as last week, to announce that they are going to do exactly what Australia is doing.

“I’ll continue to be transparent about what that cost, what it looks like, what we did, in the usual way.” The minister then said the flights were not first class.

Wells had been supposed to fly with the prime minister earlier in the week and came under fire for still going on the trip after the Triple Zero outage.

The costs of her travel were revealed late on Tuesday when the government replied to an opposition question on notice from Senate estimates in October.

Wells’ return commercial flights to New York cost $34,426.58, her deputy chief of staff’s cost $38,165, and the flight of the online safety assistant secretary, who flew two days earlier, cost $22,236.31. A first-class Qantas return flight from Canberra to New York was available for about $16,000 on Wednesday. Flight costs are variable due to timing and seasonal changes.

Accommodation and transport costs for the trio in New York were $US15,985 ($24,275).

The government hosted an event at UN headquarters on protecting children in the digital age, which cost $US45,744.11 ($69,500). Prime Minister Anthony Albanese addressed the UN General Assembly about the teen social media ban in the Delegates Dining Room, which boasts a waterfront backdrop over New York’s East River.

Wells said at the time that there were several world leaders at the event, including President of the European Commission Ursula von der Leyen and prime ministers from Greece, Malta, Fiji and Tonga, among others.

Wells’ trip to the United States had already faced criticism, with her departure coming just four days after the Optus Triple Zero outage on September 18, which resulted in three deaths.

Opposition communications spokeswoman Melissa McIntosh labelled the minister’s travel to New York a “PR trip”.

“I have always said the minister for communications should never have left her post during the Triple Zero crisis,” McIntosh said.

“As the crisis continued to unfold, the minister was holding a lavish event in New York. An event where the bill for over $73,000 was footed by the minister’s communications department, also known as the Australian taxpayer,” she said.

“And while families back in Australia are left wondering how the minister will actually make the under-16s social media ban work … the minister and her staff spent over $72,000 on flights to spruik its success to the UN.”

Wells met with industry groups and stakeholders on the trip, including the vice presidents of Meta and Microsoft and Amazon’s chief global affairs and legal officer.

Liberal senator Sarah Henderson said Wells’ decision to fly to New York after the Triple Zero crisis was offensive and “at an enormous cost to Australian taxpayers”.

A government spokesperson said Wells attended the UN General Assembly to meet with world leaders about the new social media laws, which begin on December 10.

“The minister attended several events that garnered worldwide attention for how Australia is leading the world in online safety,” they said in a statement.

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