PM flight upgrades raise serious governance issues

Flight upgrades allegedly requested by and given to Anthony Albanese by Qantas raise serious governance issues that extend well beyond the perks of high office. Both Qantas and the Prime Minister have questions to answer.

Mr Albanese has admitted accepting upgrades for personal travel with members of his family but in a carefully worded statement on Wednesday a government spokesman said the Prime Minister “did not ever call Alan Joyce seeking an upgrade”.

The exact nature of the communications between Mr Albanese and the former Qantas chief executive has yet to be fully explored or explained. It is understandable, but not sufficient, that the Qantas Chairman’s Lounge access and upgraded flights are sensitive issues in the nation’s capital given that most politicians are in on the act. But this is all the more reason – not less – for greater transparency about what is really going on.

The history of largesse self-reported by Mr Albanese is something different. This is because Mr Albanese was transport minister or opposition transport spokesman at the time that some of the gifts reportedly were sought and received.

As we reported on Tuesday, Mr Albanese’s actions could put him at odds with the ministerial code of conduct introduced by the Rudd government in which he was a minister. The standards of ministerial ethics released by Kevin Rudd in December 2007 state: “Ministers, in their official capacity … must not seek or encourage any form of gift in their personal capacity.”

State corruption laws are more specific. The NSW Independent Commission Against Corruption says: “Public officials should not solicit or accept any gifts, benefits or hospitality that could be perceived as intended to influence them, or if they are more than token value. Offers of money in any form should never be accepted.”

It is also a difficult situation for those giving the gifts to public officials. The NSW government Supplier Code of Conduct makes explicit that “suppliers must not at any time offer or provide any financial or non-financial benefits to NSW public officials”.

At a federal level, a person is guilty of an offence if the person dishonestly offers or provides a benefit, with the intention of influencing a commonwealth public official in the exercise of their duties as a commonwealth public official, or dishonestly offers or provides a benefit to another person and the receipt or expectation of the receipt of the benefit would tend to include a (commonwealth) public official in the exercise of the official’s duties as a public official.

According to legal interpretation, as with foreign bribery where the international rules are exhaustive and tight, custom and practice are no defence. There is, however, generally a requirement that the benefit must be given or accepted dishonestly or corruptly. The courts have interpreted “dishonestly” or “corruptly” as meaning “with intention to influence”.

This is why everything must be made clear surrounding any government decisions affecting Qantas in which Mr Albanese has been involved. This includes the refusal to grant Qatar Airways additional routes in Australia and any other actions that lessened competition in the aviation industry and were beneficial for Qantas.

Given the law on gift giving and receiving, it is reasonable that Mr Albanese’s actions in allegedly seeking and accepting a benefit while being a responsible minister be thoroughly examined. The obvious conflicts of interest that exist across politics involving the airline industry mean a thorough corruption investigation may be more appropriate than to allow politicians to pass judgment on themselves.

The affair also should give the Qantas governance department serious cause for reflection on how its policy on upgrades for politicians operates and what it is really all about.