Australians need to cool their jets on PM travel outrage

It is embarrassing; the shrill bleating of former Coalition ministers who surely miss their overseas junkets.

That some right-wing media echo the supposed ridicule is maybe a reflection on the parlous state of commentary these days.

I must confess that I once unreasonably regarded all so called official overseas trips as junkets.

In other words, finding any excuse to flit off overseas and put behind you the contemporary perils of public life.

Either age or an attack of common sense, or both, has mellowed my outlook.

I don't care how many trips the PM has made since taking office in May last year.

As our PM he would be failing in his duty if he stayed home, when he has a whole government to keep up the fight against our cost-of-living crisis.

So, let's have a closer look at this.

Since May last year, Albanese has gone on 15 overseas trips, aboard his custom-built Boeing RAAF business jet.

As big as a Boeing 737.

He has been to the UK, Fiji and India twice and to Indonesia, Japan and the US three times.

The long-haul flights, costing up to $8000 an hour, have included the Quadrilateral Security dialogue in Japan, the NATO leaders' summit, Pacific Island Forum, the Queen's funeral and her son's coronation, ASEAN summit, G20 summit, Australia-India leader's summit, AUKUS defence pact forum, and the APEC forum.

Between August 2018 and May 2022, former PM Scott Morrison jetted off on 29 overseas trips, which included similar reasons like G20 summit, ASEAN, APEC, G7 summit and Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting.

He paid for one trip, on a holiday to Hawaii while eastern Australia battled bushfires and yes, I think that trip cooked his goose, not the official ones.

For their relatively short tenures as PM, Tony Abbott took 21 overseas trips and Malcolm Turnbull 23.

During his 11 years as PM John Howard flew overseas 78 times, at the rate of seven a year.

The tally of Albanese trips does not include the recent China or US State visits.

A few more points.

China hit Australia with $20 billion tariff barriers after Morrison Government Ministers became the first politicians in the world to call for an investigation into Wuhan and how COVID-19 spread.

Australia is currently engaged with the US and United Kingdom on a defence pact and nuclear-powered submarine deal.

Albanese went to Ukraine because we have been sending them military equipment.

Conversely, the Solomons Islands has signed a security pact with China after the Morrison Government dropped the ball and sent a junior minister to patch up issues with our two countries.

I get the feeling the current government has been busy mending fences and developing ties with other nations because of previous government incompetence or rank amateur diplomacy.

I suppose it's a buzz being able to enjoy the lifestyle of rock stars, movie stars and billionaires and get on your own aircraft without the hassle of cattle class.

The major airlines offer our new politicians a glimpse of the high life when they drop round to the new MP's office in Parliament House to present them with their best club membership, or the Chairman's Lounge in the case of Qantas, which includes 24-hour booze, the best food and other perks, even a personal nudge when your flight is ready for departure.

Most politicians, including ministers, will tell you in a guarded moment, that after the initial thrill of free travel and other perks, it soon becomes an incredibly tiresome drag of being away from home, a malaise of different time zones, endless travel, and long hours of hard work when you land.

I got to travel on a RAAF VIP jet once, between Canberra and Hobart.

It was kind of cool.

It was mentally and physically hard during fortnightly sittings, to have to fly home Friday night and back to Canberra on Sunday, so eventually I used to stay in Canberra for the weekend.

A former MP told me she was on an endless circus of committee meetings round the country, and once in Melbourne, on her way from Perth to Brisbane, she passed by a gate to her home state and burst into tears.

I understand that for those of you who are battling with the cost of living, and never likely to be in a position of travel at taxpayers' expense, all this would seem like ostentatious privilege and indulgence.

Look at it this way.

If the PM can drum up some trade with untapped markets and get China to stop punishing us with trade barriers, then your cost of living might indirectly get a tiny bit easier.

The current bill for Albanese Government overseas RAAF travel so far is about $3.75 million.

Against a $20 billion trade block with China, it's nothing.