The Prime Minister is in a bit of bother over his high-flying relationship with Qantas. Photo: File.
Anthony Albanese is being forced to fend off accusations he used his influence and friendship with Alan Joyce to gain almost two dozen free and upgraded Qantas flights.
In the days when Mr Joyce was the boss of the airline and the Prime Minister was merely the transport minister and subsequently the Opposition Leader, a new book claims, at least 22 flights were upgraded for Mr Albanese from economy.
The book, by Joe Aston, claims Mr Albanese initiated calls with Mr Joyce seeking the upgrades and even asked for his son to be included in his Chairman’s Lounge membership.
While the PM hasn’t disputed he received some upgrades, he so far won’t say if he made the calls to Mr Joyce. But he has fiercely defended everything as being totally above board.
He also says it was appropriate that his son became his plus one for the Chairman’s Lounge because his marriage had ended at the time.
The suggestion is, however, that Qantas got an easy ride from Mr Albanese over competition and airline pricing policies.
The PM denies any such thing and says he has been completely transparent about any Qantas perks given to him.
“The only discussions that I can recall with Alan Joyce [is] we discussed the first flight from Australia to Dubai on an A380,” he told reporters on Tuesday (29 October).
“Every other flight I paid for, every other flight. These were two non-commercial flights that were declared in which transport ministers and shadow ministers travelled as well.
“It’s as simple as that. It’s very transparent out there. I’ve declared everything in accordance with all of the rules.”
Opposition Leader Peter Dutton has described it all as “strange arrangements” between Mr Albanese and Mr Joyce.
“If you are the transport minister and you are picking up the phone to one of the most important stakeholders in your portfolio, asking for a free upgrade, I am not aware of anyone else having done it,” Mr Dutton said on Monday.
Mr Dutton apparently sees no link between this and the times he personally picked up the phone to intervene during his time as home affairs minister to stop au pairs of his high-profile friends being deported.
Mr Albanese took the Opposition Leader to task, however, over his track record on the use of private flights from the mega-rich.
“I’ve been completely transparent about this,” the PM said on Tuesday.
“Just as Peter Dutton declared his flights or some of his flights, there is a difference between both of us.
“My flights were commercial with Qantas or Virgin or Emirates. They were all declared in the appropriate way.
“I didn’t have to declare any flights on private jets owned by billionaires like Gina Rinehart, because I haven’t engaged in it, as simple as that.
“I have always acted in an open and transparent way.
“In my time in public life, I have acted with integrity, acted in a way that is entirely appropriate, and I have declared in accordance with the rules.”
The Prime Minister also took a not-so-veiled swipe at the book’s author.
“I just make the point that the person who is trying to sell a book, and fair enough, I don’t see declarations that he’s a former Liberal Party staffer for a number of senior members of the Liberal party, including Joe Hockey and Bruce Baird,” he said.
Mr Aston responded via social media to point out his Liberal Party connections are well declared.
“It is disclosed on the first line of the first page of the book, and has never been a secret. This is beyond desperate from the PM,” he tweeted.
Joe Aston’s response to the PM’s claim Aston was hiding his affiliations. Image: Joe Aston X.
Shadow transport minister Bridget McKenzie has threatened to have Mr Joyce hauled before another parliamentary inquiry to answer the claims over Mr Albanese soliciting flight upgrades.
“We really do need to understand the influence that the Prime Minister’s personal and financial gain through these upgrades for he and his family have had on his personal intervention in protecting Qantas from competition,” Senate McKenzie said.
Meanwhile, for senior public servants, free Chairman’s Lounge memberships could be up for more scrutiny, despite APS bosses declaring the perks are fine for themselves to enjoy.
The Coalition once more has the APS in its sights, with some saying the current spotlight on the PM’s relationship with Qantas offers a prime opportunity for the Opposition to revisit public sector airline perks in its ongoing scrutiny of public sector waste.
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