PM Anthony Albanese’s Qantas ‘freebies’: How Aussies reacted
While Anthony Albanese has taken aim at Opposition Leader Peter Dutton’s reaction, the public has weighed in on the ongoing saga. Here’s what you need to know.
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After Anthony Albanese came under fire for purchasing a four-bedroom, three-bathroom house with “uninterrupted ocean and Sydney skyline views” at $4.3 million on the NSW Central Coast during a housing crisis, the Prime Minister is once again in hot water for accepting a raft of Qantas “freebies”.
Mr Albanese has been accused of personally requesting free upgrades, for himself and his family, directly from then Qantas CEO Alan Joyce.
The relationship between politicians and Australia’s national airline is under particular scrutiny since the government controversially blocked rival Qatar Airways’ bid for additional flights last year.
Mr Albanese also stands accused of benefiting from the range of high-value gifts when he was Transport Minister and shadow transport minister while Labor was in opposition.
Here is everything we know so far.
WHAT DID THE PM RECEIVE FROM QANTAS?
Mr Albanese has received 22 free upgrades as a result of direct communication with Mr Joyce, according to national columnist Joe Aston’s book, The Chairman’s Lounge: The inside story of how Qantas sold us out.
An extract from Mr Aston’s book was published in the Sydney Morning Herald this weekend, prompting the conversation around the PM’s free upgrades.
It has also been revealed that early in his political career Mr Albanese declared eight international flight upgrades. These eight flight upgrades are in addition to the 22 listed in Mr Aston’s book.
The Daily Telegraph reported that back in 1999, the PM and then-spouse Carmel Tebbutt received “flight upgrades on four separate trips, which amounted to thousands of dollars worth of gifts.”
According to Sky News, since 2010 the Prime Minister has also received the following from Qantas: an iPad, cookbook, travel wallet, model aircraft, bar cart, NRL tickets, cricket tickets, Midwinter Ball tickets, flight upgrades, accommodation, Chairman’s Lounge membership, Lifetime Platinum status and a luggage tag.
WHAT ALBO HAS SAID IN RESPONSE
Mr Albanese said he was committed to transparency and had disclosed everything he had received from Qantas.
“From time to time, members of parliament receive upgrades. What’s important is that they are declared. All of mine have been declared,” he said during a press conference on Sunday.
“I note that a range of them go back a long, a long period of time [and] that they have all been declared as appropriate.”
He also noted that his son received Qantas’s prestigious Chairman’s Lounge when his relationship with his wife ended.
“I put out a media release when my marriage ended, you can’t be more transparent than that. My ‘plus one’ became my son,” Mr Albanese said.
On Tuesday, the PM repeated he had declared all his upgrades and said that claims by Mr Aston were made by a “person who is trying to sell a book”.
“There is no accusations being made with any specifics at all about any of this, none,” the PM said. “I’ve been completely transparent about this, all my flights have been declared in an appropriate way.”
Mr Albanese also said the only discussions he could recall with Mr Joyce not through calls and were in relation to business trips, such as taking the A380 to Dubai (with other ministers) in an agreement between Australia and the UAE government.
“I have said very clearly - the only direct discussion with Joyce was over the Qantas flight to Dubai and the first flight to Perth, those were the only times I was on a plane with Alan Joyce,” he said.
Taking aim at Mr Dutton, he said the Opposition Leader was “obsessed”.
“Peter Dutton seems to be obsessed with making attacks on myself, my family, and to try to engage in this obsession,” Mr Albanese said.“He seems to be determined to just be arrogant and nasty every day - that’s up to him.”
ALBO ACCUSED OF BEING ‘BEYOND DESPERATE’
After the PM accused Mr Aston of hypocrisy, saying he didn’t see Mr Aston “declaring he is a former Liberal Party staffer” and “former Qantas employee”, the writer hit back.
“It is disclosed on the first line of the first page of the book, and has never been a secret,” Mr Aston wrote on X (formerly Twittter) on Tuesday.
“This is beyond desperate from the PM.”
On Sunday, Mr Aston described the PM’s explanation of his son’s Chairman’s Lounge membership as “misleading”.
“Albanese was gold-plating his private holidays by soliciting freebies worth tens of thousands of dollars from Alan Joyce while Albanese was the transport minister (and then shadow transport minister) and responsible for regulating Australia’s airline sector. The fact that he disclosed many upgrades does not make it acceptable behaviour,” Mr Aston said.
“As for the Chairman’s Lounge membership of his son, the Prime Minister’s explanation is misleading at best. While his marriage ended in January 2019, Albanese only asked for (and received) a Chairman’s Lounge membership for his son much later. Also, Albanese’s fiancee is his plus one to the Chairman’s Lounge, not his son.”
WHAT HAS THE RESPONSE BEEN?
AUSTRALIAN PUBLIC
Most comments from Australians view Mr Albanese’s “freebies” negatively, with many saying this is what they expect from politicians.
“It really just highlights Albo’s character and probably a lot of pollies I guess, that they will dip their snouts in the trough at the drop of a hat,” one commenter wrote. “They just don’t care that it clearly looks like a conflict of interest. It is hard to respect Albo at any level.”
Another said, “Every single time I have had to do the annoying ethics and conflict of interest training at a workplace in the last couple of decades it talks not just about declaring but DECLINING the gift where there is an actual, or likely to be perceived, conflict of interest. A bit rich for any pollie let alone the PM to suggest the declaration is sufficent when the actual conflict while in the Transport Minister role is so apparent.”
“Start packing your bags Albo … Totally unacceptable,” wrote another.
However, there were those who didn’t think the PM did anything wrong.
“He’s the Prime Minister. Of course he should get upgraded,” one commenter wrote.
“Well Albo and his mum did do it tough, so it’s only fair that he can get a few freebies,” another said.
PETER DUTTON
Opposition Leader Peter Dutton said the situation was “strange”.
“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,” he said.
Mr Dutton also spoke about his own upgrades.
“I average about 200 flights a year, and you’re saying I’ve had 15 upgrades over 23 years, none of which happened (as transport minister) and none of which happened as a result of me calling my best friend, Alan Joyce at Qantas.”
BARNABY JOYCE
Barnaby Joyce told Channel Seven: “I think if every person who gets an upgrade is in trouble, then we’re going to have a lot of people in trouble ... I acknowledge 100 per cent that a lot of politicians get upgrades, me included.
“It’s whether you solicit it ... especially if you ring up Alan Joyce, that’s the issue. That’s an issue that Mr Albanese has to explain.”
ALLEGRA SPENDER
The independent MP Allegra Spender said the Prime Minister’s “cosy relations” with Mr Joyce raised pertinent questions about the government’s handling of Qatar Airways.
“The Albanese govt hasn’t been serious about airline competition,” she wrote on X (formerly Twitter).
“Qatar Air and foot dragging on Sydney landing slots mean higher prices for Australians. His flight upgrades and cosy relations with Alan Joyce create a perception of conflict (whether they influence him or not).”
MINISTERS DEFEND ALBO
Several ministers came to the Prime Minister’s defence, stating Mr Albanese had done the right thing by declaring all his free upgrades.
“The most important thing is if you receive a benefit like this, that it is declared,” Environment Minister Tanya Plibersek told Channel Seven.
“I don’t think it’s any surprise that in the role of transport and infrastructure minister you’d be travelling a lot.”
NDIS Minister Bill Shorten also defended Mr Albanese.
“He has been diligent over many years and transparent declaring whatever he receives, as is the standard that’s expected of all of us,” he said.
WHAT COULD HAPPEN NEXT?
Coalition’s transport spokeswoman Bridget McKenzie has called for Mr Joyce to be brought before a parliamentary inquiry to answer questions about his relationship with Mr Albanese, reports The Daily Telegraph.
“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,” she said.
In order for an inquiry to happen, there would have to be a vote in the Senate.
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