‘Bulls**t’: Qantas insiders dispute Prime Minister’s upgrade denials

Anthony Albanese’s denial he sought flight upgrades has been described as “bulls**t” by a Qantas insider, who made a shocking claim.

Anthony Albanese’s blanket denial that he sought flight upgrades has been described as “bulls**t” by a Qantas insider who claims his personal staff were in contact with the national carrier.

The Prime Minister has now categorically denied that he ever personally contacted the Qantas CEO Alan Joyce during his tenure as Transport minister to solicit flight upgrades and revealed an internal audit of his text messages confirms this.

It follows author Joe Aston’s claim in a new book called The Chairman’s Lounge that Mr Albanese dealt directly with Mr Joyce about his personal travel - a claim Mr Albanese now categorically denies.

The book revealed Mr Albanese received 22 flight upgrades since 2009, with nearly half involving private family holidays.

Prime Minister Anthony Albanese (L) stands with Alan Joyce. Picture: James D. Morgan/Getty Images

Mr Albanese has insisted in a carefully worded statement overnight that he never had contact with Mr Joyce over personal flights.

“The Prime Minister did not ever call Alan Joyce seeking an upgrade,’’ a spokesperson said.

“All travel has been appropriately declared and is a matter of public record.”

Qantas whistleblower says ‘people are freaking out’

But in explosive new claims, a Qantas whistleblower said that people were “freaking out” over the Prime Minister’s blanket denials insisting that there was contact between his office and the airline over upgrades in previous years.

“I know because I know. It’s bulls**t. It did happen,’’ the Qantas insider said.

“We all knew about it. It’s very well known inside Qantas. (Former government relations executive) Andrew Parker used to get calls from Labor staffers as well about upgrades.

“If there’s senate inquiry and Alan Joyce goes he’s going to get asked.

“You’ve got people who are scared. Politicians? They’ve all done it.”

Asked by news.com.au if Mr Albanese’s executive assistants or staff had ever been in contact over upgrades, a spokesperson for the PM said the Liberal Party was getting desperate.

“Bookings were made in the normal way across Qantas booking systems and yes they would have been made by different people over a period of nearly three decades,’’ the spokesperson said.

“Any upgrade issued by Qantas has been declared. The same cannot be said for the Opposition.”

Questions have also been raised about the links between Mr Albanese and Qantas given that his principal private secretary David Epstein is a former senior Qantas executive.

“Epstein is sitting in his office. He knows,’’ the Qantas insider said.

PM: No calls, texts to Alan Joyce

Overnight, Mr Albanese’s denials included telling 2GB radio host Ben Fordham that he never called Qantas CEO Alan Joyce. He said he also never emailed or texted him about upgrades.

He was also asked if there was “anyone else” he contacted at Qantas for upgrades.

But he was not asked about executive assistants or staff speaking to Qantas.

Opposition Leader Peter Dutton is seen meeting with the author of The Chairman's Lounge, the book which revealed Anthony Albanese's perks at Qantas, Joe Aston, back in April of this year.

Joe Aston with chef Neil Perry and Alan Joyce in 2017. Picture: Instagram

But the Qantas insider has now told news.com.au that the Prime Minister had “backed himself into a corner” and because Labor staffers did have contact with Qantas over upgrades.

“If Fordham had asked one more question he would have got him,’’ the Qantas insider said.

“It’s taking a commercial seat. This isn’t a space available. That can only be approved by the CEO. Albo is relying on people not saying anything.

“He’s winging it. And Qantas don’t want to blow this up either because then there will be a Senate inquiry.”

The Prime Minister said he had checked his texts with Alan Joyce and confirmed there were no messages where he asked for upgrades.

“The PM says he didn’t want to come out earlier in the week and issue a complete denial in case he’d missed something,’’ Fordham said.

Ben Fordham.

“That’s why he ordered an internal audit of his records. And the PM tells 2GB breakfast, and I quote, “over 30 years, there could have been a mistake. But we’ve gone through the records.

“He says, ‘Why would you call the CEO of Qantas to discuss your flight. Well that’s what we’ve all been asking, they’re now, several days after this first blew up

“Anthony Albanese says it didn’t happen. No calls, no texts, no emails,’’ Fordham said of his contact with Qantas CEO Alan Joyce.

“Now, following our chat with the PM last night, other claims have emerged. Sharri Markson and Sky News is reporting Anthony Albanese had a dedicated contact within Qantas who personally handled these flight upgrades. At the time, Andrew Parker held the title of group executive for government and international affairs.

“Mr. Albanese was also personally close with Andrew Parker and attended his house warming at a warehouse in Annandale. There’s even a mock plaque on Mr. Parker’s house, which says it was officially opened by Mr Albanese.

Mr Albanese with Daniel Nour and Andrew Parker (right). Picture: Linkedin

Mr Joyce and Mr Albanese in October 2015. Picture: Gary Ramage

“We asked the Prime Minister to join us on air today, but he told us he’s unavailable. Why? He’s catching a plane.”

Dutton says PM ‘dishonest’

Opposition Leader Peter Dutton defended his decision to ask mining magnate Gina Rinehart to use her private plane to travel to a Bali bombing memorial service but said it was the PM who was “dishonest.”

“We asked the government for a RAAF flight, they played games and they didn’t offer that flight,” Mr Dutton told reporters.

“And at that point, I think we had a charter estimate, which was about $40,000 to fly from Rockhampton to Sydney and then back to Mackay.

“I thought that was very expensive and the cheaper option for the taxpayer was for my office to speak to Ms Rinehart’s office as to whether the plane might be available. That was at zero cost to the taxpayer.”

Leader of the Opposition Peter Dutton. Picture: NewsWire / Martin Ollman

Mr Dutton said this was a “clear” statement while Mr Albanese had been “dishonest” and “untruthful” in the face of questions.

“I just think the government control of this … the PMO (Prime Minister’s Office) will background journalists and the rest of it, what’s at stake here is the Prime Minister’s integrity,” he said. “And he has been dishonest. He has been, I think, untruthful.”

Liberal MPs declare free upgrades

As the political fallout continues, Liberal MP Jenny Ware has declared three free upgrades to business class dating back to 2022, including a flight to Bali last year.

According to The Australian, Ms Ware quietly updated her Register of Members’ Interests on Wednesday with upgrades for a Brisbane to Sydney flight with Virgin in March, a Qantas flight from Canberra to Sydney in December 2022 and a flight to Denpasar in Indonesia in January 2023.

VIPs offered flight upgrades without using frequent flyer points

news.com.au also reported on Thursday on the perks politicians secure in the Chairman’s Lounge including flight upgrades without using frequent flyer points.

The special deal was offered to politicians and key stakeholders. In other words, anyone that Qantas thought was important enough to enjoy freebie upgrades that on some international flights could be worth $10,000 if you actually paid for the upgrade.

For example, when then-Transport Minister Anthony Albanese booked a private holiday he was red-flagged on the system and offered an upgrade.

“So there’s no request. There would be times when someone on the Chairman’s team would say, ‘I’ve got a VIP, let’s get them an upgrade’,” a Qantas executive explained.

“Or there are times when we spot someone important flying and someone says ‘Let’s give them a good experience’.”

This is where someone like former Qantas government relations executive Andrew Parker was likely to step in. As a direct report to Mr Joyce, he was authorised to grant space available upgrades allowing MPs to move from an economy flight to business.

A guaranteed flight upgrade could only be granted by Mr Joyce and he hasn’t revealed if he was in the habit of doing that for Mr Albanese and his family when they knew he was flying.

“But the idea of someone calling up the CEO directly and asking for an upgrade, that isn’t happening,” a Qantas insider said.

Instead, the reality was far more subtle.

Originally published as ‘Bulls**t’: Qantas insiders dispute Prime Minister’s upgrade denials