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The All Blacks celebrate after winning the Rugby World Cup. - Source: Getty Images -
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EXCLUSIVE: More than $50,000 of taxpayer money was spent flying six foreign embassy staff home to accompany foreign VIPs to Rugby World Cup games.
The bill, obtained by ONE News through the Official Information Act, comes as Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade (MFAT) employees are set to lose their jobs because of cost-cutting.
Mfat staff were flown in from countries including South Africa, Russia and Japan.
ONE News asked Foreign Affairs Minister Murray McCully why there weren't enough staff based in New Zealand.
"It is not unusual at all for people from (foreign) posts to accompany very senior visitors when they are coming to New Zealand," he said.
"Of course we had the added complication of the Rugby World Cup tying a lot of other resources up here."
Two hundred Mfat staff are set to lose their jobs next month because of cost cutting.
Labour's Foreign Affairs spokesperson Phil Goff says it is not a good look.
"When you're sacking one in five people in the ministry because of cost cutting, it is not a good idea to spend $50,000 to bring half a dozen people back," Goff said.
McCully said there are always "sensitivities" around spending money.
"These are tougher times for New Zealand but the chief executive and senior management team have to allocate their resources in the way that they see fit," he said.
"I think they do a very good job of that."
