Nationals MP Bridget McKenzie ‘received dozen upgrades’ from Qantas, Virgin

The Nationals MP, who was a vocal critic of Anthony Albanese’s flight upgrades with Qantas, has reportedly failed to declare more than a dozen of her own.

Senator Bridget McKenzie during Question Time at Parliament House in Canberra. Picture: NewsWire / Martin Ollman

Nationals Senator Bridget McKenzie has reportedly failed to ­declare more than a dozen free Qantas and Virgin flight upgrades since joining parliament.

Senator McKenzie recently initiated her own investigation into whether she had failed to disclose the upgrades. The move followed claims that she received free business-class upgrades that were not recorded in the official parliamentary register of interests.

Under parliamentary rules, MPs and senators are required to declare any gifts, including travel upgrades, to maintain transparency and avoid conflicts of ­interest. The Australian Financial Review reported several sources not authorised to speak to the media confirmed on Tuesday that Qantas and Virgin had responded to Senator McKenzie’s letter, and had found more than a dozen domestic and international business-class flight upgrades.

Despite the findings from Qantas and Virgin, Senator McKenzie has yet to update her register of interests because she is waiting on a response from Rex Airlines.

Politicians from all sides have been engulfed in the controversy following claims Prime Minister Anthony Albanese accepted free upgrades from Qantas. They have been scrambling to check their own logs and declarations.

Senator McKenzie has yet to make a public statement regarding the specific details of the flight ­upgrades or any potential ­remedial actions.

Last week, the senator was asked if there should be any consequences for her failure to update her record. She said there was a difference between herself and Mr Albanese.

“The difference between myself and the Prime Minister is that the Prime Minister was the minister for transport. He was actually in charge of regulating the aviation sector,” she said.

She said she knew what it was like to take responsibility for a perceived conflict of interest, as she resigned from her cabinet position during the so-called sports rorts ­affair in 2020.

The Coalition frontbencher also defended Peter Dutton after the Opposition Leader made his own concession that his office had asked Gina Rinehart for use of her private jet to help him to attend a Bali bombing memorial service in Sydney, despite previously saying that wasn’t the case.

“I don’t think we need to always think that people assisting has a quid pro quo, and that’s why it’s important to have public declarations and important to look at ­behaviour,” she said.

It comes as Mr Albanese sought to reassure his ministry that he hadn’t done anything wrong following the accusations he personally contacted former Qantas boss Alan Joyce to secure upgrades for flights.

The revelations came to light last week, after Nine newspapers published an excerpt of author Joe Aston’s book alleging Mr ­Albanese liaised personally with Mr Joyce.

Mr Albanese has rejected the allegations.