MPs eye upgrades ban to end Qantas saga
People who attended a major ALP fundraiser at Melbourne's Ritz-Carlton Hotel have described Anthony Albanese’s keynote speech as disappointing, ‘run of the mill’ and fixated on the need for ‘stability’.
People who attended a major ALP fundraiser at Melbourne's Ritz-Carlton Hotel have described Anthony Albanese’s keynote speech as disappointing, “run of the mill” and fixated on the need for “stability”, hours after a ministerial meeting at which the Prime Minister was said to have behaved “like a sook” over reporting of his Qantas aeroplane upgrades.
Revelations of politicians soliciting free Qantas upgrades have sparked fury at the top end of town as executives are routinely pushed out of the exclusive Chairman’s Lounge for spending less than $1m a year on travel with the airline.
And as the government reels from a week dominated by questions about the Prime Minister’s dealings with former Qantas chief executive Alan Joyce, Labor MPs now increasingly believe an iron-clad ban on aeroplane upgrades for personal travel is needed to move past the affair.
Attendees at Wednesday night’s fundraiser said the crowd of more than 150 invited guests had expected a forceful show from Mr Albanese but were disappointed with a standard speech that “ran the usual lines”, didn’t seem to have a clear message and repeated his calls for Labor “stability”.
Leaks from the ministerial meeting were critical of Mr Albanese’s explanation for the furore surrounding free Qantas trips and his relationship with Mr Joyce, in which the PM complained about the media mistreating him.
Senior ministers Mark Butler and Bill Shorten on Friday both rejected the claims that Mr Albanese had behaved “like a sook” but expressed concern about the leak from the meeting.
At the Labor fundraiser in the Ritz Carlton soon after the ministerial meeting, people who had paid to attend were disappointed with Mr Albanese’s speech, and cited his references to the need for leadership stability and that he would be the first prime minister elected at successive elections in more than a decade.
Mr Albanese has frequently referred to the need for stability in his government when refusing to sack underperforming ministers, harking back to the damage to the ALP by the Rudd-Gillard-Rudd leadership changes.
Mr Butler, a close factional ally of Mr Albanese, on Friday said he was not a “sook” and had the toughness to lead the nation.
“As someone who’s known Anthony for a very long time and worked closely with him, the last thing I’d call him is a sook,” he told ABC radio, stressing the need for cabinet confidentiality.
“You can’t be a sook and get to the prime ministership of the country or, frankly, to the position of leader of the opposition. These are tough jobs, and they require someone with a real sense of purpose and real resilience and strength, and that’s the Anthony Albanese I know.”
Taking aim at the Coalition, Mr Butler criticised Peter Dutton after the Opposition Leader confirmed his office had requested and received a flight on a private jet owned by Australia’s richest person, Gina Rinehart.
“Peter Dutton has a taste for private planes, whether it’s Gina Rinehart’s plane or having spent almost a quarter of a million dollars of taxpayer funds in six months last year taking private charters instead of commercial flights,” he said.
It is still not clear if current or former staff members in Mr Albanese’s office sought upgrades for him. Government sources were adamant on Thursday all bookings had been made in the normal manner across Qantas’s system. Any upgrades were a matter for the airline and were appropriately declared, they said.
One Labor MP said while they had no qualms with upgrades on work-related travel, the rules should be tightened to prevent parliamentarians from receiving upgrades for their holidays and other personal travel.
“The idea that you get upgraded on a personal trip, disclosed or undisclosed, it’s wrong,” the MP said.
“If someone is on a personal trip and Qantas upgrades them, that’s not right. I don’t think you should be upgraded just because you’re a politician.”
Another Labor MP agreed it was a “bad look” for parliamentarians to accept upgrades when they were making personal trips, and advocated for a tightening of rules to prevent any perks being accepted. A review of travel rules would be appropriate, another government MP said, granting that disclosure requirements appeared more relaxed at a federal level compared with at state and local levels.
The Weekend Australian can also reveal the calculating criteria for Chairman’s Lounge access, which offers members a private space to relax and network before flying, and bumps them further up the queue for upgrades.
A letter to one senior executive last year informed him that Mr Joyce and his team had reviewed his membership listing and were “unable to extend his membership beyond the current expiry”.
“Membership will continue to be strictly by invitation only from our chairman and CEO and be very closely aligned to the member’s senior position in the government, corporate and diplomatic community,” the letter said.
“New criteria now require the member’s organisation to have a commercial airfares agreement with Qantas and agree to revenue and market share targets.
“While board membership, academia and private consultancy activity are well respected, these are no longer criteria for membership renewal.”
The letter added that “when a member retired, moved on to a new role or the organisation ceased to have a commercial airfares agreement with Qantas, their membership of the Chairman’s Lounge would be reassessed against the current criteria”.
“Following our most recent review, I hope you will understand that we are not able to extend your Chairman’s Lounge membership beyond its current expiry,” the letter finished.
The businessman, who did not want to be named, said it was a slap in the face after spending a small fortune on Qantas flights.
“The upgrades Qantas has handed out to politicians calls into question its consistency on who gets access to the Chairman’s Lounge and who doesn’t,” he said.
“There are executives and directors, myself included, who are being removed from the Chairman’s Lounge despite spending hundreds of thousands of dollars, in some cases close to $1m a year, with Qantas.
“Instead, some qualified by sitting next to the CEO on a plane, were friends of the state manager or worked in a government department but travel infrequently.”
It was widely accepted that Qantas had set a minimum annual expenditure of $1m for travel for organisations to be afforded Chairman’s Lounge membership.
Virgin Australia set a similar threshold for membership of its invitation-only lounge, known as Beyond.
Qantas declined to discuss the criteria for Chairman’s Lounge eligibility, which has come into focus as a result of the Albanese upgrade controversy.
A new book by journalist Joe Aston claimed Mr Albanese had leaned on Mr Joyce to provide flight upgrades while he was transport minister and then as Prime Minister.
Mr Albanese has denied making personal requests for upgrades to Mr Joyce or anyone else at Qantas.
Among the many perks of Chairman’s Lounge membership, guests are provided with seat upgrades on flights when available.
It’s understood requests were still frequently made to Qantas for better seats, particularly on long-haul international flights, by “all sides of the political fence”.
Mr Joyce has declined to answer questions about his relationship with Mr Albanese.
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