EXCLUSIVE: Former chief minister Natasha Fyles charged taxpayers to book a “Julius deluxe” room at Caesar’s Palace on the Las Vegas strip as part of her controversial US trip last September, as well as two nights at the Trump Waikiki resort in Hawaii, but she later cancelled the stays after the NT Independent first disclosed them and as public outrage grew, records obtained through Freedom of Information laws show.

Ms Fyles, who resigned as chief minister last December following an undisclosed shares scandal, flew business class to Washington last September, for what other media reported was a “vital” trip to “build diplomatic relations and investment opportunities” with “key decision makers” in the US military, however the internal government documents show there were no meetings planned with US officials before Ms Fyles left.

Ms Fyles is currently seeking re-election as the local Labor Member for Nightcliff.

The 12-day US trip, which was initially estimated to cost $70,000 for Ms Fyles and her chief of staff Gabrielle Mappas, was approved by Territory Families chief executive Emma White last July, while she was acting head public servant, after an itinerary was prepared two days earlier showing the unexplained Las Vegas and Hawaii legs of the trip.

The memo to approve taxpayer funds for the trip drafted by Ms Fyles included no details of who she was meeting with and repeated only that the trip would “build diplomatic relations and investment opportunities” in relation to Defence and military matters that are typically the remit of the Federal Government.

Finalised official travel recorded in the government’s database does not include the Las Vegas and Hawaii trips, which it appears were dropped from the official travel itinerary just before departure on September 2, despite taxpayers billed at least $1,677 for one flight between Washington and Las Vegas and possibly other cancellation fees.

Updated internal records show the total cost of the trip was $88,675, for Ms Fyles and policy advisers Vanessa Bates and Daryl Hudson – with both advisors also paid travel allowance for the 12-day trip.

That also included $4,600 for “other” expenses, including for “hospitality”, meals and incidentals, although no receipts for Ms Fyles or Ms Bates were provided in the cache of travel documents released.

Records show Ms Fyles spent five nights at the Mayflower Hotel in Washington – DC’s longest operational hotel known for its “history and scandal” and presidential balls – at a cost of $550 a night for a king room from September 4 – 9.

Faced with public outrage over the trip, Ms Fyles issued a statement on September 7 from Washington to reiterate the public importance of the trip, which is when she first indicated that she had met with US Under Secretary of the Navy Erik Raven, as well as Assistant Secretary of Defence, Ely Ratner, “to reinforce the Territory’s defence industry capacity and capability in delivering US defence infrastructure projects”.

The NT Independent’s application for the travel documents under FOI laws, requested all minutes of meetings held by Ms Fyles, as well as the schedule of meetings, meeting notes and agendas.

That information was not provided and there is no record that Ms Fyles had the meetings scheduled before jetting off to Washington on September 2, and it does not appear that any notes or minutes were prepared of the meetings.

Labor pledged to restore integrity to government when it was first elected in 2016, in part by publishing estimated costs of international travel before the flights departed, but that practice ended once Ms Fyles took over the top position.

Ms Fyles promoted Katie Woolf’s fun-run on her taxpayer-funded social media page while in Washington.

The estimated costs of the US flights were not publicly released before the trip occurred, with Ms Fyles instead releasing details of the trip exclusively to the NT News, which reported positively about its importance. Mix 104.9 also repeatedly stated the trip was necessary despite callers to its talkback radio show criticising it for weeks. It is unclear if either media outlet was aware of the planned Vegas and Waikiki legs of the trip.

Ms Fyles said in a statement yesterday that the trip and meetings were organised by “the public service”.

“We planned a strategic trip to the USA to boost trade and investment opportunities for the NT, with a strong focus around Defence. Meetings were scheduled by the public service,” Ms Fyles said.

“In hindsight, there should have been more transparent reporting on our end regarding this trip.”

She confirmed that she did not visit Las Vegas or Hawaii during the taxpayer-funded trip as originally planned.

“Draft itineraries were presented for review to my office which included these locations as possible destinations. We did not believe visiting those two locations would be beneficial,” Ms Fyles said.

But the internal travel records show it was still on the agenda as of August 31 – six days after the NT Independent reported that the itinerary was said to have included Hawaii and Las Vegas – and three days before departing.

The records show Ms Fyles and her two-person entourage spent three nights at the Luskin Hotel in Los Angeles after Washington at a cost of $593 a night each and another night in a “city view king” room at the Manchester Grand Hyatt in San Diego before flying back to Australia.

Ms Fyles did not respond to a question seeking confirmation of who she met with while in Los Angeles and San Diego and what was discussed.

In 2015, while in opposition, Labor criticised the CLP’s over-the-top travel, including a 10-day, $50,000 trip to New York by then-CLP minister Bess Price, which they called a “junket”.

Ms Fyles would not say if she accepted now that her $90,000 trip to the US was a junket and not crucial for the Territory or Territorians.

The NT Independent also filed an FOI application to the Department of Chief Minister and Cabinet for the total costs of other public servants who attended the trip, but the department has repeatedly delayed releasing that information. This masthead is currently still working on obtaining those documents.