FORMER prime minister Kevin Rudd has set a new international benchmark for travel, clocking up more than $1 million on flights and hotel suites in his first nine months as Foreign Minister.

The high-flying minister has now eclipsed his global counterparts, including US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, as among the world's most travelled foreign ministers, The Daily Telegraph reported.

Documents reveal for the first time the cost being borne by Prime Minister Julia Gillard and Australian taxpayers to keep Mr Rudd happy.

They show a travel diary for 14 trips totalling 140 days, with each trip costing an average of $80,000 - more than the annual average family income.

The documents, released under Freedom of Information, revealed Mr Rudd - who has been pushing for Australia to win a seat on the United Nations Security Council - travels with an entourage of up to three advisers and staff, enjoys first and business class flights, and luxury and presidential hotel suites costing up to $2700 a night.

On one 20-day trip in March, which took in South Africa, Egypt, Switzerland, Afghanistan, Jordan, Palestine, Israel, Saudi Arabia, the UAE, Tunisia, Oman and Singapore, Mr Rudd's party racked up $174,000 in bills. That included first and business class flights for Mr Rudd of $36,800 and $13,353 in hotel rooms.



A trip to Vietnam and Germany in April cost $17,275 in first class flights for Mr Rudd, and $15,000 on business class flights for two staffers, as well as a Berlin hotel suite which cost $2696 for a single night.

Mr Rudd will officially return to work today following heart surgery, marking it with an immediate departure to San Francisco.

According to departmental records, the total bill for Mr Rudd's travel for the nine months from the August 2010 election to June this year was $1,093,227. That was seven times more than predecessor Stephen Smith, who spent less than $150,000 in his first six months in the job.

Between August 2010 and June 2011, the jet-setting Mr Rudd made 14 trips abroad visiting 41 countries - an average of more than four a month - almost double the average travel of Ms Clinton.

He has spent more than double the time he spent away as prime minister a feat that had already earned him the nickname Kevin 747.



Opposition spokesman on government waste, Jamie Briggs, said the PM should clip Mr Rudd's wings: "This million dollar travel bill seems to be more about Kevin Rudd's future than Australia's.

"The Foreign Minister of Australia should travel, however spending over a million dollars in nine months travelling to countries where Australia has little strategic interest should raise taxpayers' collective eyebrows."

Mr Rudd's accommodation compares with the $43,000 for former prime minister John Howard's four-night stay at the St Regis Grand Hotel in July 2002.

A spokesman for Mr Rudd said: "It is central to the job of any Foreign Minister to travel to engage with foreign governments in pursuit of Australia's national interests."

Mr Rudd stays at our ambassadors' residences when possible at no cost.

Kevin Rudd itineraries and estimated costs – September 2010 – June 2011



15 – 7 September 2010 – Visit to Pakistan, United States

Estimated cost: $115,587

12 – 20 October 2010 – Visit to Japan, Belgium, the Holy See, Italy

Estimated cost: $78,228

31 October – 6 November 2010 – Visit to China, South Korea

Estimated cost: $49,608

9 – 12 November 2010 – Visit to Japan

Estimated cost: $44,777

29 November 6 December 2010 – Visit to United Arab Emirates, Kazakhstan, Bahrain

Estimated cost: $58,745

8 – 20 December 2010 – Visit to Indonesia, Egypt, Jordan, Israel, Palestine, Brazil, Chile

Estimated cost: $93,622

24 January – 7 February 2011 – Visit to Ethiopia, Switzerland, Turkey, Greece, Liechtenstein, Germany

Estimated cost: $105,715

24 February – 15 March 2011 – Visit to South Africa, Egypt, Switzerland, Afghanistan, Jordan, Palestine, Israel, Saudi Arabia, the UAE, Tunisia, Oman, Singapore

Estimated cost: $174,061

25 – 26 March 2011 – Visit to New Zealand

Estimated cost: $11,978

29 – 30 March 2011 – Visit to Indonesia

Estimated cost: $7,061

12 – 16 April 2011 – Visit to Vietnam, Germany

Estimated cost: $59,987

23 April – 8 May 2011 – Visit to France, UK, Belgium, Germany, United States, Saint Kitts and Nevis and the Solomon Islands

Estimated costs: $79,214

13 – 23 May 2011 – Visit to Thailand, Finland, Sweden, Norway, China

Estimated cost: $77,607

4 – 14 June 2011 Visit to Hungary, United Arab Emirates, United States, UK

Estimated cost: $137,037

Total Overseas trips: 14

Total cost: $1,093,227.00

Average cost each trip: $78,087.00