Prime Minister Christopher Luxon meeting his Australian counterpart Anthony Albanese in Queenstown last month. Photo: RNZ/Katie Todd
An estimated $44,000 of public money to fly Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese and Prime Minister Christopher Luxon to the top of a Queenstown mountain is a publicity stunt "gone badly wrong", Labour leader Chris Hipkins says.
In August Luxon posted footage of the two prime ministers debating the origin of the pavlova from a snow capped peak in the South Island to his Instagram, TikTok and Facebook accounts.
That month Luxon hailed Albanese's visit to the country as a very successful trip altogether.
"We're good friends and that helps a lot, when you have good chemistry with the leader," Luxon said.
Official Information Act requests to the Department of Internal Affairs now show the helicopters and pilots hired to transport the dignitaries to the alpine location cost the taxpayer $44,000 (including GST).
The department said the costs related to chartering two helicopters to transport the delegation. The amount included costs associated with "security protocols", such as the use of copilots and dual controls, to ensure the safety of the official party.
Today Labour leader Chris Hipkins said the prime minister had missed an opportunity to promote the country's tourism industry by not allowing media to accompany the excursion.
"This is effectively him spending $44,000 of public money on a private social media opportunity, rather than one that was designed to promote New Zealand.
"If the argument was that this was about promoting New Zealand tourism and promoting New Zealand as a destination, why exclude the media? This wouldn't have been a priority for me. If it was a publicity stunt it's gone badly wrong," Hipkins said.
A spokesperson for the prime minister said the money was drawn from the Department of Internal Affairs annual budget for guests of the government and national commemorative events.
"When the opportunity is available, the government is keen to showcase the best of New Zealand's scenery and tourism opportunities to visiting world leaders and, through them, the rest of the world," the spokesperson said.
The person said footage of the prime ministers' trip had been provided to New Zealand media and the Australian prime minister's office was also able to share the footage with Australian-based media.
Today in Parliament acting Prime Minister David Seymour did not condemn the use of public money for the trip.
"Because I haven't been involved in this particular issue and I know that it also involves another country - and another country's prime minister - that's going to be addressed by Chris Luxon rather than me," Seymour said.
Speaking to reporters at the Pacific Islands Forum summit in Honiara, Luxon said he was "absolutely" comfortable with the pricetag.
"Yeah, good investment," he said.
"Look at the Queenstown economy, 10 percent is driven by visitors from Australia. If you look at even our numbers over the course of July, you've seen a good uptick in tourism, but a really good uptick from Australian visitors - particularly with the campaigns, but also to be able to project into Australia... what is just an absolutely outstanding tourism proposition,
"I think's really, really, really, really positive."
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