It has been revealed that Australia’s High Commissioner to the UK, Alexander Downer, put on a (GBP)£1261 dinner for Tony Abbott, Peta Credlin and other guests including UK Conservative Party heavy-weight William Hague.
The lavish spending for the then prime minister’s party while visiting London in 2014 has come to light in DFAT documents released under the Freedom of Information act and reported by Fairfax Media.
The 3-course meal put on at the high commissioner’s residence, Stoke Lodge, included scallops, lamb and cheeses.
The value of the meal amounted to approximately (AUD)$364 per head at current exchange rates, according to Fairfax.
Back in October, it was revealed that High Commissioner Downer had spent approximately (AUD)$150,000 a year on 65 official dinners and lunches, many of them at Australia House, the London address of the Australian High Commission in the UK.
According to the Fairfax report, High Commissioner Downer did not breach his annual catering budget.
As well as the dinner for Tony Abbott and his entourage and guests, the newly released documents detail a dinner held in honour of then treasurer Joe Hockey and 13 others for the far more modest total of £452.
IMAGE: Alexander Downer (Via imagemaker / Shutterstock.com)