‘s inaugural First Nations ambassador is being paid up to $326,000 a year in addition to an eye-watering $358,000 international travel budget.
Foreign Affairs Minister Penny Wong and former Indigenous ns Minister Linda Burney appointed Justin Mohamed, a Gooreng Gooreng man from Bundaberg in Queensland, to the world-first ambassador role in March 2023.
The Albanese government said the non-elected position would ‘ensure, for the first time, will have dedicated Indigenous representation in our international engagement’.
Since the staggering travel budget was made public on Monday, Opposition leader Peter Dutton has said he would abolish the role and called it a ‘waste of money’.
Mr Mohamed oversees the Office for First Nations International Engagement which was established under the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade (DFAT) in December with a budget of $13.6million over four years.
Officials from DFAT were asked by Shadow Minister for Indigenous ns Jacinta Nampijinpa Price in a Senate estimates hearing on June 3, what annual pay Mr Mohamed was on for the role.
The officials confirmed he was ‘engaged at the SES band level 2’ referring to a Senior Executive Service tier that earned between $240,000 and $326,000 a year, according to DFAT’s annual report for 2022-23, reported The Daily Telegraph.
Ms Nampijinpa Price asked for the exact amount, but the question was taken on notice and appears to have been left unanswered after the officials couldn’t immediately give the exact salary package.
Mr Dutton said on 2GB he would abolish the role if voted in at the next election.
‘That money will be spent to help ns who are struggling at the moment to keep a roof over their head, or to pay their electricity bill,’ he said.
Foreign Affairs Minister Penny Wong, currently in New York, fired back that Mr Dutton was diminishing on the world stage.
‘It’s disappointing that Mr Dutton doesn’t see a role for Indigenous ns in representing ,’ she said.
‘We see again his character on display. He divides us at home, and frankly, he diminishes us in the world.’
Mr Mohamed spent about $145,000 on business class flights and splurged hundreds of dollars each time on private transfers to and from his sprawling estate – and taxpayers covered it all.
His job was originally to ‘engage regional partners on the Voice, Treaty, Truth process’, but that part of the position was rendered irrelevant when voted No to the Voice referendum in October.
Instead, the Albanese government gave Mr Mohamed a $358,000 travel budget to fly business class all over the world with a colleague or two in order to represent First Nations views at bilateral forums and conferences.
Almost 180 pages of expense documents, released by Senator Wong’s office under Freedom of Information and obtained by Daily Mail , reveal that Mr Mohamed went on nine overseas trips in the 2023-24 fiscal year.
He travelled to New York, Hawaii, San Francisco, Geneva, Dubai, Paris, along with major cities in Vanuatu and Papua New Guinea – all of which cost a combined $283,000. A two-week trip to Kansas City and Washington DC cost $75,022 alone.
The few domestic trips were usually return business class flights from his sprawling five-bedroom mansion in Gisborne, on the outskirts of Melbourne , to Canberra. The documents did not detail any excursions to remote Indigenous communities.
Opposition Indigenous ns spokeswoman Jacinta Nampijinpa Price told Daily Mail there was a stark contrast between Mr Mohamed’s travel budget and the experiences of everyday Indigenous people.
‘There is a seismic gap between the kinds of money being spent on travel by the First Nations Ambassador and the lives of our most marginalised ns,’ she said.
‘If these taxpayer funded trips are truly warranted, then Anthony Albanese needs to be clear about the outcomes being achieved and how the lives of our marginalised are being improved.
‘As a result of questioning the government in the course of Estimates earlier this year, I continue to have doubts as to the practical benefit made by the Ambassador to the lives of Indigenous ns.
She said the Coalition would abolish Mr Mohamed’s position if elected to government in 2025.
‘We must prioritise investment in improving the lives of Indigenous ns here at home before spending these significant amounts of money on a position that Indigenous ns don’t even have the ability to make representations to.’
According to the documents, Mr Mohamed normally travelled with at least one colleague whose expenses were accounted for in the overall budget.
The paperwork included the reasons behind each trip, which spanned from ‘representing First Nations perspectives in climate change’ to ‘joining ministerial dialogues on Indigenous trade’.
Expenses were all approved by Department of Foreign Affairs (DFAT) staff, including $30,000 for hotels at all nine international destinations, $13,000 for food and cab fares, and $102,000 for business class flights.
Mr Mohamed would often send ground transport receipts after each trip, which included multiple $200 return fare bills for a private transfer from his Gisborne home to Melbourne Airport.
DFAT reimbursed Mr Mohamed about $150 for three separate charges to private limousine companies in Dubai.
The documents do not contain information beyond June 30. Since then, Mr Mohamed has travelled to the Solomon Islands and Fiji.
Warren Mundine, the former National President of the n Labor Party, told Daily Mail the function of Mr Mohamed’s role was unclear and called for more ‘practical’ roles to help local Indigenous businesses.
‘I’m a bit confused about what the position is, what does it do?’ he said.
‘Originally he was supposed to be going around about the Voice, but that would have sent a clear message that the n people don’t need such a position.’
‘We need practical things happening in , and to deal with business development that could help Indigenous businesses get support to go international, not someone who travels around going to meetings.’
Daily Mail contacted Mr Mohamed for comment, but he referred all questions to DFAT.
A spokesperson for Senator Wong said the ambassador and his team were ‘delivering results for all ns, including our First Nations communities’ – but did not explain those any further, despite being asked to do so.
‘Ambassador Mohamed has helped secure greater access for Indigenous Peoples to the Human Rights Council, he was essential to delivering a groundbreaking treaty securing formal legal recognition of First Nations peoples’ genetic resources and traditional knowledge, and has boosted First Nations trade,’ they said.
‘First Nations diplomacy is a powerful element of our engagement with the Pacific given the strong First Nations cultural and historical connections with our region.
‘It is one of the ways we are rebuilding our relationship with the Pacific family after Mr Dutton and the Liberals disrespected Pacific leaders and neglected Pacific priorities over nine long years, leaving a vacuum for other countries to fill.’
Prior becoming an ambassador, Mr Mohamed was the deputy secretary for Aboriginal justice in the Victorian government’s Department of Justice and Community Safety between 2021 and 2023.
He was also Victoria’s Commissioner for Aboriginal Children and Young People between 2018 and 2021. Prior to that, he was the CEO of Equity Health Solutions until 2018, and the CEO of Reconciliation between 2014 and 2017.
In 2021, he and his wife Janine bought their two-acre estate near Mount Macedon, north-west of Melbourne, for $2.4million.