Former prime minister Tony Abbott opted to decline a Qantas flight upgrade on an overseas holiday

Tony Abbott has revealed he declined a Qantas flight upgrade on an overseas family holiday while he was prime minister, as Anthony Albanese faces mounting pressure over perks received.

Former Prime Minister Tony Abbott has revealed he rejected a free Qantas upgrade for a private family trip during his time in office as Anthony Albanese faces growing pressure over allegations he solicited free travel upgrades.

Mr Abbott, who during his time in government banned taxpayer funded first class overseas travel, said he was also offered free upgrades on the sole private overseas trip he took while prime minister.

“As PM, I only had one private overseas trip and Qantas were good enough to offer the family an upgrade but my judgment was that we should stick in the economy seats we had actually paid for,” he told The Daily Telegraph.

It was in 2014 that Mr Abbott and his wife Margie flew economy to Paris from Sydney over the Christmas break to visit their daughter Louise, but the then-PM repeatedly declined offers from the airline for an upgrade to business or first class.
It was reported at the time the Abbotts were seated in economy near the toilets at the rear of the plane.

Tony Abbott opted not to take a Qantas upgrade on a family holiday while he was PM. Picture: NewsWire / Martin Ollman

On the issue of politician perks more broadly, Mr Abbott said he made the decision to curtail taxpayer funded first class trips for MPs because “business was more than good enough”.

Mr Albanese has not taken any personal overseas trips or accepted any flight upgrades since becoming prime minister, but has come under fire for his acceptance of airline perks earlier in his parliamentary career.

Analysis of the Mr Albanese’s entries in the Register of Members’ Interests since 1999 shows the PM received eight flight upgrades on four separate trips prior to his promotion to the transport portfolio.

While since 2009 Mr Albanese received 22 upgrades, including several while he was transport minister and also during his tenure as opposition transport spokesman.

Prime Minister Anthony Albanese has come under scrutiny over his acceptance of Qantas upgrades he is accused of soliciting directly from then-CEO Alan Joyce. Picture: James D. Morgan/Getty Images

A new book by journalist Joe Aston, who Labor figures have sought to discredit due to is past work as a staffer to senior Liberal figures and as a Qantas employee, has accused Mr Albanese of soliciting some of the flight upgrades directly from then-Qantas CEO Alan Joyce.

Mr Albanese was evasive when asked if he had ever called Mr Joyce about an upgrade on Tuesday, instead telling reporters he could only recall talking to the airline boss directly about flights on two occasions related to promotional events for new plane routes to Dubai and London, not for personal travel.

A spokeswoman for the PM’s office said Mr Albanese’s declarations on the interest register predating Mr Joyce’s tenure “completely blows out of the water” the argument from Mr Aston that the upgrades were a result of a relationship with the CEO.

“It completely vindicates that the PM has a long history of diligently making declarations in line with the rules,” she said.

Originally published as Former prime minister Tony Abbott opted to decline a Qantas flight upgrade on an overseas holiday