The Prime Minister says she was between a rock and a hard place over the decision to take an extra flight to Nauru for the Pacific Islands Forum, after cutting the trip short due to baby Neve being unable to travel.
Jacinda Ardern said today she was "damned if I did and damned if I didn't."
"I even went to the extent of checking whether or not I could hitch a ride with Australia. If I didn't go, I imagine there would be equal criticism as well."
She said she would be the first PM outside of an election cycle to not attend since 1971.
It was reported the extra cost of the flight back to New Zealand to pick up Ms Ardern could be between $50,000-$80,000.
Ms Ardern was told the jet was unable to stay on Nauru as it needed to make room for other planes, and it would be "taking up its hours somewhere else anyway".
National Party leader Simon Bridges said the situation would "be for New Zealanders ultimately to judge".
"All MPs have to justify their expenses and New Zealanders judge them on that."
Finance Minister Grant Robertson told TVNZ1's Breakfast today there was no additional costs to the taxpayer.
The Finance Minister said the jet used to fly Jacinda Ardern to Nauru won’t be “any additional cost to the taxpayer”. (Source: Other)
"This is an aircraft and a crew who would be working anyway. We allocate a certain amount of money to them each year, so it's either this flight or another flight.
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