set aside up to $4.2 million to reserve accommodation at three five-star Fiji resorts ahead of a pre-COP31 meeting in October.<\/a>\u00a0<\/p>\nThe meeting, which Mr Bowen will chair as co-president of the UN climate negotiations, will bring together international delegates before the COP31 summit in\u00a0Turkey\u00a0later this year.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Speaking to Sky News on Tuesday, Mr Tehan said the spending raised\u00a0serious questions\u00a0about the government’s priorities.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cChris Bowen said he was going to absolutely focus on value for money for the taxpayer,\u201d he said.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cWhen you’ve got 244,000 people facing energy hardship in Australia and that number is growing, Chris Bowen needs to explain how this is value for money for\u00a0the Australian taxpayer.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
He said Australians struggling to pay electricity bills would struggle to understand why millions of dollars had been\u00a0allocated\u00a0to accommodation for overseas delegates.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cBecause when you’re in energy hardship and you’re struggling to be able to pay your power bill,\u00a0I don’t think you’re going to see this as value for money,\u201d\u00a0Mr Tehan said.\u00a0<\/p>\n
The Liberal MP\u00a0also pointed to Labor’s election commitment to reduce household electricity bills.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cPeople\u00a0will\u00a0remember\u00a0they were promised that they were going to see $275 come off their power bills.\u00a0So,\u00a0how is this going to help in that regard?\u201d\u00a0Mr Tehan questioned.\u00a0<\/p>\n
According to\u00a0AusTender\u00a0documents, the department has reserved accommodation across three luxury resorts on Fiji’s Denarau Island.\u00a0<\/p>\n
The largest allocation, worth up to $2.11 million, is for the Sheraton Fiji Golf and Beach Resort.\u00a0<\/p>\n
A further $2.08 million has been earmarked for the Sofitel Fiji Resort and Spa, while almost $20,000 has been\u00a0allocated\u00a0for the Radisson Blu Resort Fiji.\u00a0<\/p>\n
The Department of Climate Change, Energy, the Environment and Water has insisted the $4.2 million figure\u00a0represents\u00a0the maximum possible value of the contracts rather than the final taxpayer cost.\u00a0<\/p>\n
A department spokesperson said accommodation had been secured on a flexible basis and unused rooms could be cancelled and refunded.\u00a0<\/p>\n
The department also said\u00a0Turkey\u00a0would cover its own accommodation costs and that expenses would be recovered from other participating delegations.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Mr Tehan questioned whether taxpayers would\u00a0ultimately recover\u00a0the full amount.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cWell, what I’d like to hear from Chris Bowen is, is how this pre-COP negotiations\u00a0…\u00a0how\u00a0is this value for money,\u201d he said.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cHe sent bureaucrats from his own department over to scope this when we have an embassy in Fiji.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
He also pressed the government to explain how the cost recovery arrangements would work.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cThey were asked in Senate estimates,\u00a0‘who will pay to help with the cost of recovery?’\u00a0They said\u00a0Turkey.\u00a0But they\u00a0couldn’t\u00a0name anyone else,\u201d\u00a0he said.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cSo\u00a0who else will?\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
Mr Tehan argued Australians deserved to know how the spending would improve energy affordability at home.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cThe bigger question is, how is this helping in Australia with energy affordability?\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cThat is the big question. And we\u00a0haven’t\u00a0heard a sensible answer to that question.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Shadow energy minister Dan Tehan has challenged Chris Bowen to explain why taxpayers should fund up to 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