Australia’s inaugural First Nations People’s Ambassador spent about $145,000 on business class flights and splurged hundreds each time on private transfers to and from his sprawling estate – and taxpayers covered it all.
Foreign Affairs Minister Penny Wong and former Indigenous Australians Minister Linda Burney appointed Justin Mohamed to the newly-created ambassador role in March 2023.
His job was originally to ‘engage regional partners on the Voice, Treaty, Truth process’, but that part of the position was rendered irrelevant when Australia 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 Australia, 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 Australians spokeswoman Jacinta Nampijinpa Price told Daily Mail Australia there was a stark contrast between Mr Mohamed’s travel budget and the experiences of everyday Indigenous people.
Justin Mohamed, Australia’s First Nations People Ambassador, is pictured with his wife Janine
Justin Mohamed is pictured, right, at the 13th Festival of Pacific Arts and Culture in Honolulu with Kevin Rudd, centre – the former Australian Prime Minister and now-Ambassador to the US
‘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 Australians,’ 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 Australians.
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 Australians here at home before spending these significant amounts of money on a position that Indigenous Australians 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’.
Justin Mohamed is pictured with Foreign Affairs Minister Penny Wong, both right, at a forum in Fiji in August
Mr Mohamed expensed three limousine trips to Australian taxpayers (two receipts pictured)
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 Australian Labor Party, told Daily Mail Australia 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 Australian people don’t need such a position.’
‘We need practical things happening in Australia, and to deal with business development that could help Indigenous businesses get support to go international, not someone who travels around going to meetings.’
Justin Mohamed lives in a sprawling estate in Gisborne, Victoria, worth $2.4million
The five-bedroom property features a Swarovski crystal chandelier (pictured)
Daily Mail Australia 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 Australians, 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 Australia 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.
