How Kevin Rudd spent $24,000 in a single day as Anthony Albanese’s ambassador to the US – and it’s Aussie taxpayers who will foot the bill
The Albanian government’s controversial ambassador to the United States, Kevin Rudd, spent as much as $24,000 in one day in Washington.
The total amount spent by Mr Rudd in the last financial year was $172,000.
The delegate spent $24,000 AUD on breakfast, morning tea, dinners and a large reception at his Washington, DC residence in a tax assessment filed on October 1, 2023.
The bill for Australian taxpayers has been revealed after it was released The Daily Telegraph under freedom of information laws.
But many of the details about who actually met Mr Rudd have been extracted from the expenditure, with the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade saying its publication would have a “substantial adverse effect on the proper and efficient conduct of the activities of a agency’.
The $17,000, 190-person reception at Mr Rudd’s home on October 1 was held ‘in honor of the US-Pacific Island Countries Leader’s Summit’.
Pacific leaders were in town for the summit, hosted by US President Joe Biden.
Taxpayers also paid for Rudd’s wife, Therese Rein, to visit the National Gallery of Art with the First Ladies of the Pacific Islands in September.
The total amount spent by Mr Rudd (pictured with US President Joe Biden) in the last financial year was around $172,000.
Anthony Albanese (pictured) has previously voiced his support for Mr Rudd as Australia’s ambassador to the US, after mounting speculation he could be forced out of the post early.
Mr Rudd (pictured) was previously described as Australia’s ‘ambassador to the world’
The former prime minister has come under fire in the past for his eye-watering spending.
In September it emerged that Mr Rudd had racked up a travel bill of more than $150,000 since being elected to the top diplomatic post in 2022.
He has been described as Australia’s ‘ambassador to the world’, filling the shoes of absent ministers at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland, and the German Security Dialogue in Munich in 2023, for a total of $40,000.
With Mr Rudd halfway through his four-year term as ambassador to the US, there is speculation he may be forced out of the post early.
Rudd previously called Donald Trump a “traitor to the West” and a “village idiot” and described him as the “most destructive president in history” – comments he has since deleted from social media.
In response, Trump said before his re-election that Rudd was “nasty” and that he would not last long in the role if he returned to the White House.
However, Trump would not be able to follow through on his desire to ‘fire’ Rudd.
Only the Australian government can recall one of its ambassadors and both Mr Albanese and Opposition Leader Peter Dutton have expressed their support.
Daily Mail Australia has contacted the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade for comment.