For the period 1 July to 30 September 2009, did the Minister/Parliamentary Secretary travel overseas on official business; if so: (a) to what destination, (b) for what duration, and (c) for what purpose; and (d) what was the total cost of: (i) travel, (ii) accommodation, and (iii) any other expenses.

(1) (a)   to (c) Yes, the Minister for Defence, Minister for Defence Personnel, Materiel and Science, and the Parliament Secretary for Defence Support travelled overseas on official business. All travel dates provided include the date of departure from Australia and the date of return to Australia. Please refer to the attached table for more details.

(d)   (i) to (iii) All costs of official overseas travel by Ministers, Parliamentary Secretaries, accompanying spouses (where relevant) and accompanying staff employed under the Members of Parliament (Staff) Act 1984 are paid for by the Department of Finance and Deregulation (Finance). Finance has provided costs for visits that have been reconciled. Dates, destinations, the purpose and costs of all official overseas travel are tabled in the Parliament every six months in a report titled Parliamentarians’ Travel Paid By The Department of Finance and Deregulation. These reports are now also published to the Finance web site. Some Ministerial expenses are a direct portfolio cost to Defence and where reconciled those costs are reflected under item 1(b)(iii). Where Ministers undertook travel via special purpose aircraft (SPA) the Schedule of Special Purpose flights for 1 July to 31 December 2009 will be scheduled in June 2010. This schedule is tabled every six months.

Minister / Parliamentary Secretary	(1) (a) (b) (c)	(d)
Minister for Defence	Solomon Islands on 16 Jul 2009 via special purpose aircraft. The Minister visited Solomon Islands to meet with Government officials, Australian troops deployed with Operation ANODE, RAMSI principals and Pacific Patrol Boat Program staff. No costs were incurred for this visit.	(i) Nil
(ii) Nil
(iii) Nil