Outgoing senator Bob Carr has defended charging hundreds of thousands of dollars on the public purse while foreign minister.
Senator Carr, who has announced he'll quit the Senate after 18 months in parliament, spent an average $4220 per day during six months as foreign minister, Fairfax Media reports.
The total cost of $770,000 during the period was reportedly significantly more than spent by his predecessors.
Senator Carr on Thursday called the claims "fundamentally dishonest" and out of context, justifying his expenditure as a necessity as Australia pursued a seat on the UN Security Council.
"Yes, it did involve travel," he told ABC radio.
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"I doubt if I would have gone to Mongolia, for example, if it had not been in pursuit of an extra vote in what was a keenly contested ballot, and a lot of other travel as well."
Senator Carr said he would have been criticised if he made less effort to secure Australia a seat on the council, which it achieved last year.
He also said other trips he made to Indonesia and world summits like the G20 were entirely above board as the country's top diplomat.
