Rita Panahi: Out-of-touch Anthony Albanese has serious questions to answer

For a man who has built his political image on being a relatable, down-to-earth, working class battler, Anthony Albanese sure does enjoy the finer things in life, particularly if someone else is paying.

The Prime Minister is facing another crisis of his own making; one that again exposes how out of touch and entitled he has become.

For a man that has built his political image on being the relatable, down-to-earth, working class battler who grew up in public housing, he sure does enjoy the finer things in life, particularly if someone else is paying.

To get caught requesting one economy-to-business-class upgrade from Qantas may be considered a misfortune, to get caught soliciting two dozen looks like carelessness.

There are serious questions to be answered about whether Anthony Albanese breached the ministerial code of conduct when he requested upgrades for personal travel when transport minister under the Rudd and Gillard governments.

There are serious questions to be answered by Anthony Albanese. Picture: AFP

The rules are clear: ministers “must not seek or encourage any form of gift in their personal capacity”.

But Airbus Albo became all too accustomed to paying for economy airfares with the expectation that he’d go from the luxury of Qantas’s Chairman’s Lounge straight to the pointy end of the plane.

Revelations in Joe Aston’s book, The Chairman’s Lounge, lay bare the cosy relationship between Albanese and former Qantas CEO Alan Joyce.

Opposition Leader Peter Dutton is right to question the PM’s integrity and call for Mr Albanese to refer himself to the National Anti-Corruption Commission.

“I think the Prime Minister should take the initiative to refer this matter to the integrity commission, because I think there are lots of questions about Mr Albanese’s credibility and his integrity in relation to the Qatar decision,” Mr Dutton said.

The Prime Minister can ill afford another controversy that paints him as out-of-touch. Picture: Getty Images

The Qatar decision in 2023 may well come back to haunt the PM, given how it benefited Qantas while disadvantaging the average Australian travellers paying higher fares due in part to the lack of competition.

The PM can ill afford another controversy that paints him as out-of-touch. It was only two weeks ago that we learned he had spent well over $4m on a beach house during a housing and cost-of-living crisis.

That was a decision that showed his keen political instincts had deserted him.

Indeed, neither revelation passes the pub test but at least he bought the beach house with his own money.

Rita Panahi is a Herald Sun columnist