How Jacinta Price and Jane Hume ran up an eye-watering bill for private jet flights to a cost of living crisis meeting - and you're footing the huge cost

EXCLUSIVE

Jacinta Nampijinpa Price and a high-profile Liberal senator ran up a taxpayer-funded bill of $21,084 for two private flights to talk about the cost of living crisis.

Senator Price and Senator Jane Hume took a charter jet for the short 300km hop from Adelaide to Port Augusta, South Australia, on August 21 for a series of cost-of-living committee hearings.

The total cost of that single 55-minute flight was $10,542, according to figures released by the Independent Parliamentary Expenses Authority (IPEA).

The following day, on August 22, they set off on a private charter jet from Port Augusta to Alice Springs at the cost of another $10,542.

The flights were organised by the Cost of Living Committee Secretariat, which is a government initiative that is supposed to find ways of reducing cost of living pressures in Australia.

Daily Mail Australia understands the committee - chaired by Senator Hume - decided private flights were the best and most economical way of transporting the senators and staff  to hearings, even though the first was within driving distance.

One-way Qantaslink flights from Adelaide to Port Augusta start at about $165, while a number of commercial carriers operate between Port Augusta and Alice Springs - with nonstop flights starting at around $300. 

The $10,542 cost of the private plane was split three ways, between Ms Price, Ms Hume and the Department of the Senate at a cost of $3,514 each, with taxpayers ultimately footing the entire bill.

They ran up an identical $10,542 bill for the second leg of the journey from Port Augusta to Alice Springs which was also evenly shared, according to the IPEA data.

At the end of the trip, Ms Price and Ms Hume hit social media to talk about the cost of living committee and how locals are in financial turmoil.

Standing side-by-side in an Instagram video on August 23, Ms Hume said: 'We've just capped off three days of hearings at the cost of living committee in Adelaide, in Port Augusta and here in Alice Springs.

'[We have been] talking to communities, talking to business groups, and talking to locals themselves about how the rising cost of living is affecting them.'

Ms Price said she had enjoyed the opportunity to be a part of the cost of living committee, particularly in her home town of Alice Springs.

'The sort of things that are impacting our community include the devastation of family break ups, domestic violence, crime - those sorts of things, and cost of living is really contributing to that,' she said.

'It's great for the community members who have come out to share their personal stories, as well as stories involving their organisations and the way that they're struggling to support our vulnerable community members.'

They then appeared on local radio in Alice Springs and spoke about the cost of living crisis. 

The committee has released a number of reports with cost of living recommendations, but it is unclear if those recommendations will be implemented.

The Select Committee on the Cost of Living referred all enquiries on the flights to Senator Hume as committee chair. 

Spokesmen for Ms Hume and Ms Price said the flights were within the relevant rules and 'constitute a sensible use of public money, and were therefore reasonably incurred'. 

About a month earlier on July 6, Ms Price had spent a further $5,900 when she chartered a  private plane from Alice Springs to Uluru.

The trip was to carry out Parliamentary duties during NAIDOC week, which was in line with her roles as Shadow Minister for Indigenous Australians and Senator for the Northern Territory.

Senator Hume went on the trip in August, but she claimed the $7,028 share of the bill in the October-December 2023 quarter. During the same quarter, she spent $39,728 on domestic travel for seven staffers.

Last week, Daily Mail Australia revealed Opposition leader Peter Dutton billed taxpayers $63,015 for three private jet flights during a two-day cost of living trip to regional towns.

Earlier, Mr Dutton was called out for claiming $23,000 in travel expenses after booking a private jet from Canberra to Tamworth to speak at a News Corp event - and again, to criticise the cost of living crisis under Labor.

During the same three-month reporting period, Anthony Albanese charged Australian taxpayers $1million for everything from international travel to office supplies - including $298,899 for trips to Asia, the UK, the Middle East, and Europe.

Further, climate change minister Chris Bowen spent $30,564 of taxpayer money on flights to attend three international environmental conferences in under six months, all while urging Australians to reduce emissions.