Morrison government is supporting the former finance minister in his bid for the job with the use of an RAAF Falcon

Mathias Cormann’s travel around Europe to campaign for the top OECD job may be costing Australian taxpayers as much as $4,300 an hour, based on records of previous flights by the same type of air force plane that he is using.

The Morrison government is backing the former Australian finance minister’s bid to become the secretary general of the Paris-based Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development but his prospects will depend on his appeal to European nations.