An analysis of non-Australian government funded parliamentary travel between 2010 and 2018

This ASPI report uses the information Members and Senators disclose on the Federal Registers of Interests to analyse the top funders of our Federal parliamentarians’ overseas travel.  It shows that, over the period 2010-2018 Federal parliamentarians received 102 sponsored trips to Israel, 63 to China and 49 to the United States of America.  The largest sponsor of all non-Australian government-funded trips was the Australia/Israel and Jewish Affairs Council.  The largest sponsor of trips to China was the telecommunications company, Huawei, while the largest sponsor of trips to the United States was the Australia America Leadership Dialogue.

The data shows that Federal parliamentarians are disclosing their interests, which is healthy for democracy, although the format and system of disclosure could be made more accessible to promote public transparency and analysis.