Melbourne’s Lord Mayor Nick Reece and accompanying councillors and staff spent $155,669 on international travel to China, Japan, Brazil and India in the last four months of 2025.
Critics are now questioning the lack of transparency around the trips and the cost to ratepayers, but Reece says the travel is necessary to win investment for a city “located at the far end of the world”.
Reece visited China and Japan on a business mission in September 2025 at a cost to ratepayers of $14,210. His business class flights cost $11,572 and he stayed at the luxury Shangri-La hotel in Nanjing and Tianjin and the Pullman hotel in Tokyo.
Alongside visiting local businesses on the trip, Reece went to see the pandas and on a nighttime river cruise of Haihe River in Tianjin to take in the light show on buildings along the river bank.
Reece was accompanied by councillors Gladys Liu, Philip Le Liu and Kevin Louey, whose combined travel costs were $41,020, and one staff member whose travel cost $15,119, to bring the total bill for the business mission to City of Melbourne ratepayers to $70,349.
An additional three City of Melbourne staff members were also recorded as participating in the trip but no costs were declared for them. The Age asked the council for further details but they declined to comment.
Prior to the business mission, City of Melbourne chief executive Alison Leighton spent $13,993.98 on a trip to China in June 2025 with the partial purpose of preparing for Reece’s trip.
Liu also visited China in June 2025 for a six-day trip to “accompany community leaders to their hometown to explore opportunities for bilateral exchange”.
Liu’s trip cost $8400 but was gifted to the councillor by Wang Quan Chun, honorary president of Australian Fugian Chamber of Commerce and Industry, which Liu properly declared.
The business mission to China occurred at the same time as Premier Jacinta Allan’s trip to the country, and the council’s travel report said it delivered “substantial outcomes” strengthening civic relationships and amplifying Melbourne’s international profile. The report said the mission facilitated 14 commercial arrangements projected to generate $28.4 million in trade benefits.
Reece’s next trip was to Rio de Janeiro in Brazil for the C40 World Mayor’s Summit and climate conference COP30 in November.
Reece’s trip was mainly paid for by C40 Cities, but he billed $1915 for additional costs.
A travel report for the Brazil trip has not been filed so limited details are available about the trip, which two staff members also joined. Reece had told The Age the summit and conference were “terrific on a number of levels”.
“I believe the conference organisers told me that I had more one-on-ones with other mayors and small speaking engagements than any other of the 300-plus mayors attending the events,” he said. “So I really worked it hard, it’s fair to say, but it was great.”
Reece also helped lead a push to develop shared international guidelines and standards for data centres while in Brazil.
Reece was then back in Melbourne for nine days before departing for India on another trade mission for the council. A trip report to be considered by council on Tuesday night shows Reece’s travel costs for the trip to India were $12,933.66.
These included flights costing $9302.38, indicating business class fares, and stays at the Taj West End in Bengaluru – part of the luxury Taj Hotels group – and the Marriott in Goa to attend the Waves Film Bazaar and International Film Festival of India event with movie star Rachel Griffiths.
Reece was accompanied by Deputy Lord Mayor Roshena Campbell and councillor Andrew Rowse, whose combined travel costs were $34,757.92, along with three council staff whose combined travel costs were $35,711.44.
The total bill for the trip was $83,403.02.
The post-trip report said the mission to India delivered significant economic outcomes for Melbourne and claimed that through visits to Indian tech companies with a presence in Melbourne it facilitated 520 new jobs projected to generate $95 million of economic uplift to the City of Melbourne.
Councillor Owen Guest said he was concerned about the lack of transparency and questionable value of the international travel.
“They will come out with reports saying they created all sort of jobs whether we believe them or not,” he said. “It is the lack of transparency which is a common theme at the City of Melbourne.”
Guest said travel should be discussed in open not closed sessions and the council should be upfront about costs of travel before it was incurred.
He questioned why a delegation from the City of Melbourne needed to travel to China after Prime Minister Anthony Albanese and Allan had both travelled there.
“It comes down to, is it value for money and is it what the City of Melbourne should be doing?” he said. “What can we do that the federal government and state government can’t?”
Reece said he campaigned to become Melbourne’s lord mayor with “a policy of increasing trade with the rapidly growing economies in our region, and that is exactly what we are now doing”. He said his trips came in “under budget” and would generate more than $360 million for Melbourne.
“Melbourne has so much going for it, but we are located at the far end of the world, we need to get out there and win these investment and job opportunities for our city,” he said.
Tanya Tescher, spokeswoman for the Victorian Ratepayers and Residents Association, said questions needed to be asked about the purpose of the trips and what benefits the City of Melbourne received.
“Councillors should be transparent and show to ratepayers the benefit of these trips,” she said. “When a lot of people are doing it tough, over $150,000 [on international travel] is a lot of money.”
Tescher also questioned the use of business class flights, referring to the recent federal expenses saga which stemmed from the taxpayer-funded spending of Sports Minister Anika Wells.
“It is a bit of an Anika Wells-type situation, the federal government is telling politicians to fly economy class, why are councillors flying business class?”
Start the day with a summary of the day’s most important and interesting stories, analysis and insights. Sign up for our Morning Edition newsletter.
