Communications Minister Anika Wells has bristled at opposition claims she was “swanning around” New York amid the triple zero calamity in her portfolio.

Ms Wells has faced weeks of scrutiny over repeated Optus outages which left thousands without emergency call access, including four people who died waiting for help.

She took offence during Question Time when Opposition Leader Sussan Ley asked if she regretted prioritising a trip to New York over dealing with “urgent matters” at home.

Ms Wells demanded Ms Ley apologise for describing her trip to New York as “swanning around”—despite photos showing her wining and dining at fancy events in the Big Apple.

In the days after the first Optus outage, Ms Wells flew out of the country to promote the government's social media age ban at the UN i

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