The Rudd Labor government has refused to disclose the total cost of taking a delegation estimated at 114 people to the Copenhagen Climate Change conference, according to Liberal Senator Guy Barnett, Chairman of the Coalition’s Scrutiny of Government Waste Committee.
“The Australian delegation had 43 more members that that of the UK and 90 more than New Zealand.
“Australian taxpayers have funded a huge effort where there was no treaty, no binding agreements, and not even a commitment on a timetable.
“Mr Rudd must come clean and advise how much it cost the Australian taxpayer and how many tonnes of CO2 his massive delegation pumped into the atmosphere.
"Mr Rudd should apologise to the Australian people for demanding an agreed and legislated Emissions Trading Scheme before the Copenhagen conference.
“We know the Government spent $10 million on controversial climate change advertising just last year. If the Government will not voluntarily disclose the total cost of their delegation the government will be forced to reveal the cost by other means.
“Scrutinising Government waste and mismanagement is a priority for the opposition,” Senator Barnett concluded.