Prime Minister John Key says he is unconcerned that Foreign Affairs Minister Murray McCully spent $75,000 travelling to and from Vanuatu on RNZAF planes to attend a meeting in February that lasted a few hours.
Labour MP David Shearer revealed the expense in Parliament saying a commercial flight would have cost about $4000.
Mr Key told Parliament he approves all ministers' trips.
He said he accepted the logic put forward by Mr McCully before he attended the meeting that taking air force planes would be in the best use of taxpayers' money.
Mr McCully says use of airforce planes was necessary due to the difficulty in using scheduled commercial flights to the Pacific.
He says Labour's costing bears no relation to reality although he could not provide a figure, as the air force does not give out such information.
He says that due to other obligations, he could not attend the meetings on commercial aircraft.
Mr McCully also says the Government offered a lift to other heads of state from other Pacific Island nations.
