Downer's dinner dollars questioned

Labor has taken aim at a lavish taxpayer-funded dinner hosted by High Commissioner to the UK Alexander Downer for then prime minister Tony Abbott, which came in at around $350 per head.

Labor said the 2014 dinner, which had seven guests, including Tony Abbott and his chief of staff Peta Credlin, boasted courses such as pan roasted lamb loin, scallops three ways and farmhouse cheeses and pickles.

"If we put aside the fact that Tony Abbott and Alexander Downer are long-time friends, and this is not what we could call a tough meeting, is it really appropriate for a dinner of this kind to cost around $350 a head?" Labor backbencher and spokesman on waste Pat Conroy said in statement on Sunday.