‘You could almost buy a hotel’: Fiery exchange over climate summit costs

October 26, 2026 — 3:46pmThe Albanese government spent $682,000 on rooms at a five-star hotel in Sydney to host a series of pre-COP meetings in September, with questions over the contract leading to a fiery exchange in the Senate.The grilling of bureaucrats in Senate estimates also revealed that Australia’s financial contribution to hosting October’s pre-COP event in Fiji could reach $34.6 million, higher than the $20 million previously reported.Liberal senator Sarah Henderson said expenditure by the Department of Climate Change, Energy, the Environment and Water was “simply out of control” and asked why the government was spending almost $700,000 on meeting rooms and accommodation when “you could almost buy a hotel for that amount of money”.Dr Sally Box, head of the international climate negotiations division in the department, confirmed the contract with Sofitel Sydney Darling Harbour was part of the $150 million budgeted for pre-COP. Box said the contract supported at least five separate events over several weeks, but she did not have a breakdown of how many meeting rooms were involved over how many days and whether it also included accommodation, or why the venue needed to be five-star.“These are either mandated events under the UNFCCC that we were hosting in Australia, or they were workshops to support the facilitation of conversations between delegations on negotiations-related issues,” Box said. “There were multiple events hosting multiple delegates from around the world in the one meeting location, through the one provider.”Opposition communications spokeswoman Sarah Henderson.Dominic LorrimerHenderson’s comment about being able to buy a hotel for nearly $700,000 prompted the intervention of Labor senator Tim Ayres who said this was not true. He pointed out that during the G20 in 2014, the Abbott government booked out 7000 hotel rooms across Brisbane including luxury five-star resorts at a cost of $20 million.The squabble occurred when Senate estimates resumed after a short break to pay tribute to independent MP Helen Haines who was seriously injured in an alleged attack last week.Henderson and Ayres spoke over the top of each other repeatedly, as Henderson accused Ayres of “running interference” while she tried to question a public servant, and Ayres argued this was “the same Coalition that made jokes about water lapping at Pacific leaders’ doors”, a reference to an infamous 2015 hot mic incident involving then-immigration minister Peter Dutton and then-prime minister Tony Abbott.More recent examples included one of the Coalition senators referring to Pacific leaders as “the local blokes” earlier in the estimates hearing, Ayres said, and Nationals senator Matt Canavan’s recent comments about the prime minister and a minister looking “silly” in Hawaiian shirts at a pre-COP events in the Pacific.“Your questions about a much smaller amount of money really do underline the lack of seriousness with which the Coalition views this set of issues in the Pacific,” Ayres said.Henderson interjected: “$150 million is not a small amount of money.”Prime Minister Anthony Albanese and Climate Change Minister Chris Bowen wearing Hawaiian shirts at a pre-COP summit in Tuvalu.Getty ImagesAyres said: “I did not interrupt you. I did not interrupt you.”“You’re interrupting the whole ...” Henderson said.“Badgering me or badgering the officials does not assist,” Ayres said.“I’m not badgering,” Henderson said, and called a point of order on relevance, but committee chair, Labor senator Varun Ghosh, ruled that Ayres’ answer was relevant because Henderson’s question had included “rhetorical preamble” to which Ayres could respond.Industry and Innovation Minister Tim Ayres says the Coalition is not serious about the Pacific.Alex EllinghausenAyres concluded by saying that the pre-COP expenditure was “fully funded by the $500 million Coalition-era strategic international partnership that [now Opposition Leader] Angus Taylor ... put together to bribe his way out of the naughty corner when the previous government became so isolated on these questions in the region and around the world”.Ayres withdrew the attack on Taylor at Henderson’s request.Earlier in Monday’s Senate estimates hearing, the department’s head of division, international climate & energy, David Higgins, said the pre-COP event in Fiji had included contracted commitments of $34.6 million, but this was an “outer bound”, with the government expected to recoup some costs from attending nations over the next month.The breakdown included an $8.4 million bill for accommodation and venues, which also included most of the catering, about $20 million for the event management company including the fit-out of venues, audiovisual hardware and simultaneous translation, $2 million to put on host broadcaster services to make sure the proceedings could be publicly screened, and additional costs associated with procurement support, commercial and probity advice.Department secretary Mike Kaiser said he had approved the travel of 51 department officials to manage the operational side and 48 staff for negotiation and engagement.The event attracted criticism because the only world leaders in attendance were from the Pacific region, plus Timor-Leste and Mauritius.Kaiser said the event achieved its goals to put Pacific priorities at the heart of the international climate discussion and help shape the agenda for COP31 in Turkey, and to strengthen relationships with Pacific neighbours.Get to the heart of what’s happening with climate change and the environment. 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