Andrew Bolt: Albo still doesn’t understand how he’s messed up over Qantas upgrades

Anthony Albanese still doesn’t understand how he’s made a mess by sticking his snout in the Qantas trough, while the self-righteous Teals are turning a blind eye to his freebies.

Anthony Albanese still doesn’t get how he’s messed up, sticking his snout in the Qantas trough. Nor, strangely, do the Teals, turning a blind eye to his freebies despite campaigning self-righteously for an anti-corruption commission.

So let me try to make it clear.

Imagine, Prime Minister, if your ministers lived by the standard you set as Transport Minister, allegedly calling Qantasfor free upgrades.

You know the standard: “Hey, I’m flying to London on holidays. How about an upgrade?”

“It’s Albo again. Off this time to Singapore with my plus one. Can you sort out upgrades? Good man.”

Albanese on Tuesday didn’t deny doing this as alleged in a new book by journalist Joe Aston. He just blustered: “There’s no accusation being made with any specifics at all about any of this. None. None.”

Anthony Albanese with former Qantas CEO Alan Joyce. Picture: James D. Morgan

On Wednesday he finally said he didn’t ring the Qantas boss directly but didn’t deny ringing anyone else.

Whatever, it worked. He got dozens of upgrades to business class and even first class, including to pleasure spots like Rome and Honolulu, if you add the upgrades he got as a shadow minister and Opposition leader.

That’s at least $200,000 of freebies, by my count. Serious money.

So what if Albanese’s ministers now thought they’d pull that same stunt?

Imagine, Prime Minister, your Treasurer now ringing one of the banks he oversees and doing an Albo, asking: “Can you knock off a percentage or two off my home loan?”

Imagine your Housing Minister ringing a construction company and asking for free renovations of his beach house.

Shocking, right? Corrupt.

What is so different about free upgrades? Why do so many politicians think gifts from an airline is somehow OK, while gifts from a property developer are political poison, to be banned?

I know, Albanese insists he declared all the upgrades, and is adamant he didn’t give Qantas a favour in return – a quo for the quids. “In my time in public life, I have acted with integrity.”

Jodie Haydon, Alan Joyce and Anthony Albanese at the Qantas 100th Gala Dinner. Picture: James D. Morgan

That may be so. Quite possibly he banned Qatar Airways from getting extra flights for good reasons, and not just because Joyce showered him with freebies and in return asked his mate to keep out a Qantas competitor.

But, Albo, don’t you see that unkind people now making that link is why you shouldn’t have cadged for Qantas freebies, including a membership of the Chairman’s Lounge for your son?

After all, why would Joyce have given all those freebies to you, and not to other loyal customers who – unlike you – actually paid for flights with their own money, and not the taxpayer’s?

Here’s a clue: it’s not because of your charm. It’s because you have power, and Joyce and Qantas think there’s something in this for them.

I wouldn’t call it actual corruption. But, gee, it smells.

Albanese has tried other excuses for his behaviour that, frankly, sound pathetic. Desperate.

Here’s one: other MPs get upgrades, too: “(Opposition frontbencher) Paul Fletcher has been upgraded at least 69 times that he’s declared.”

But I’ve never bought that excuse – “other people are doing it, too” – from anyone. Not even my children.

Former Qantas CEO Alan Joyce, Prime Minister Anthony Albanese and former footballer Adam Goodes at the launch of the Qantas 'Yes' Campaign in Sydney. Picture: Gaye Gerard

And did Fletcher really do an Albo himself, and ring Joyce for a favour? He says no.

Albanese even tried to smear the journalist, Joe Aston, who first accused him of cadging upgrades from Joyce.

“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. I don’t see declarations that he’s a former Qantas employee.”

False. Aston pointed out in the very first sentence of his book that he’d had an “involvement with Qantas” that started “tangentially when I was employed in the office of a federal Liberal MP, Bruce Baird.”

But what would it matter if Aston voted Liberal, if his claims are still true?

All this will make Labor MPs again wonder if their Prime Minister has lost it.

It’s not just that Albanese’s big pitch of being a working class boy from a housing commission home now sounds like a con, with Albanese so clearly enjoying the high life and the privileges. Free upgrades! Free tickets to the Australian Open! Free tickets to Taylor Swift! And, wow, enough money to buy himself a new $4.3 million beach house!

But look also how lost and frustrated he now seems, so lacking direction since his crusade for the Voice collapsed. What’s he really want, except an upgraded flight to somewhere else?

Originally published as Andrew Bolt: Albo still doesn’t understand how he’s messed up over Qantas upgrades