Former Prime Minister Lawrence Gonzi’s wife Kate accompanied her husband on official trips overseas 13 times between 2004 and 2012, in trips that cost taxpayers €317,448.

Details of the trips were tabled in parliament on Tuesday by Prime Minister Joseph Muscat, in reply to a parliamentary question by Labour MP Byron Camilleri.

Ms Gonzi accompanied her husband, who at the time was Malta’s Prime Minister, on trips to places varying from the UK to Trinidad & Tobago. The most costly trip was a 16-day visit to Australia in the summer of 2007, which cost €159,000. Dr Gonzi and his wife were accompanied by three other people on that visit.

Dr Camilleri asked the parliamentary question after Times of Malta had reported that Dr Muscat’s wife Michelle had travelled overseas as part of government delegations three times in 2017. Those three trips cost taxpayers €81,348 in total.