42161 (2025). Lemauga Lydia Sosene to the Minister for Social Development and Employment

42161 (2025). Lemauga Lydia Sosene to the Minister for Social Development and Employment: How many international flights in total, if any, counting each leg of a journey as an individual flight, has each department or entity that the Minister is responsible for paid for in the period from November 27th 2023 to August 1st 2025; and what was the total cost broken down by month, destination, cabin class and the purpose of the flight?

Hon Louise Upston: I refer the member to the below tables which provides information on the international flights for the Ministry of Social Development (the Ministry) for the period 27 November 2023 to 1 August 2025. The first table outlines the total cost spent across 57 flights and 20 separate overseas trips. The second table provides the total spend broken down by cabin class. I am advised the Ministry’s travel policy allows for consideration of Premium Economy or Business Class for long-haul international flights where the flying time to the destination exceeds 9 hours one way, or where the length of the trip is such that its duration is likely to be detrimental to the traveller’s ability to carry out their business on arrival. If travellers wish to upgrade to Premium Economy or Business Class, they must pay for this themselves.