Qantas upgrades another hint of crony capitalism

Australian travellers are entitled to feel aggrieved at the cosy relationship our most senior politicians have enjoyed with Qantas, which has in turn received what appears to be political protection from competition. Qantas club membership is one thing. The disclosure that Anthony Albanese asked for and received upgrades for personal travel for himself and his family is more concerning.

On 22 occasions the Prime Minister, including when he was transport minister, asked of then Qantas CEO Alan Joyce, and received, upgraded flights for his family, including for holidays overseas. According to author Joe Aston, the direct requests to Mr Joyce started when Mr Albanese was transport minister in the Rudd government in 2009. Aston has made the astute observation that if a minister responsible for banks asked ANZ or Westpac for $20,000 to be deposited into their bank account it would be a scandal. Why are equally valuable airline privileges any different?

When questioned on Monday about his own record, Treasurer Jim Chalmers at first attempted to deny being the recipient of airline largesse but his office later corrected the record to admit he had received an upgrade on a domestic flight with his family members. Peter Dutton admitted accepting 15 upgrades over 23 years but said “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”.

Direct lobbying for flights as a responsible minister is clearly unacceptable. It should be in the same category as holding shares in companies over which a politician is likely to make a decision in the course of their duties. But air travel appears to have escaped the net. Departing former Labor leader Bill Shorten offered Mr Albanese some support, saying the Prime Minister had been “diligent over many years and transparently declaring whatever he receives”.

Mr Albanese may be correct when he says he has complied with the relevant laws and declared the upgrades. But this is not good enough. Neither is his excuse for asking for membership of the Chairman’s Lounge for his son, which he said was simply to replace his former wife as his plus-one after they had separated. Mr Albanese had been separated from his former wife for three years before he lobbied on behalf of his son. At the time of lobbying he already had a plus-one arrangement for his new partner.

It all smacks of a politician from the left side of politics who, when opportunity presents, is quick to put his snout into the trough of privilege. In political terms, the affair adds heat to Mr Albanese’s decision to buy a $4.3m oceanfront mansion months out from a federal election, at a time of a cost-of-living crisis for ordinary voters.

The airline affair is more serious and more widespread. A forensic audit should be conducted of all the upgrades bequeathed to politicians involved in making decisions about airline policy. This is particularly so in light of the rejection of a bid by Qatar Airways to expand its operations in Australia. Airline competition is at a low point and efforts to reform the awarding of valuable slots at major airports, which currently favour incumbents Qantas and Virgin, is progressing at a glacial pace. Travellers are paying the price in higher fares and the economy is suffering as a result of lost productivity.

Qantas is entitled to act in its commercial best interests but there are clear rules globally when it comes to offering inducements to government officials. The free tickets fiasco adds further weight to concerns about the scourge of crony capitalism in some of the government’s other signature policies, such as Future Made in Australia. At the very least, this is not the more open, transparent governance voters were promised at the last election.