PM clarifies his position on Qantas flight upgrades

Anthony Albanese says he has never requested a flight upgrade from Qantas boss Alan Joyce, but the damaging saga has fuelled calls for a complete overhaul of pollies' airline perks.

Anthony Albanese says he has never requested a flight upgrade from Qantas boss Alan Joyce, but the damaging saga has fuelled calls for a complete overhaul of pollies' airline perks.

After days of evasive responses from the Prime Minister when asked if he ever personally solicited Qantas freebies, a spokeswoman for his office clarified his position late on Wednesday.

“The Prime Minister did not ever call Alan Joyce seeking an upgrade,” she said.

“All travel has been appropriately declared and is a matter of public record.”

He did not contact Mr Joyce via any other means in relation to upgrades, all of which were offered at the discretion of Qantas.

Prime Minister Anthony Albanese and then Qantas CEO Alan Joyce as Qantas unveil their Yes23 livery being carried on some of their aircraft at Sydney. Picture: AAP

Despite Mr Albanese’s claim, the Coalition is poised to pursue an inquiry into the debacle, while Greens leader Adam Bandt said Mr Albanese should front up and “give a full statement about these (Qantas) matters”.

Coalition transport spokeswoman Bridget McKenzie said she was hopeful of “productive conversations” with the Senate crossbench about how to move forward with an inquiry.

Earlier this week Mr Albanese was repeatedly asked if he had phoned Mr Joyce about flight upgrades, and his lack of straight answer prompted the Coalition to demand he refer himself to the National Anti-Corruption Commission.

On Tuesday Mr Albanese had said the only two direct conversations he recalled with Mr Joyce related to non-commercial promotional flights for new routes to Dubai and London.

It is understood the delay in Mr Albanese’s office directly responding to requests about his alleged calls to Mr Joyce was due to the time it took to go through more than 30 years of travel records across multiple booking systems.

Meanwhile Tony Abbott has revealed he rejected a free Qantas upgrade for a private family trip while prime minister.

“Qantas were good enough to offer the family an upgrade but my judgment was that we should stick in the economy seats we had actually paid for,” he said.

Mr Albanese has not undertaken any private international travel or received any Qantas flying perks as PM, but has previously declared 30 upgrades since 1999.

Wentworth MP Allegra Spender said successive Australian governments, including Mr Albanese’s “have not ensured effective competition in the Australian airline industry and that means Australian passengers are paying too much”.

“Politicians … should be thoughtful about whether it is appropriate to accept (upgrades), particularly if they are close to decisions that affect the airlines directly,” she said.

“We can’t know whether these privileges affect their decisions on airline policy, but it’s a bad look.

“It invites public cynicism and suspicion when we need to build trust.”

North Sydney MP Kylea Tink said the “cozy relationships between big business and our political parties have to end”.

Alan Joyce with MP Anthony Albanese at the National Press Club in Canberra in 2015. Picture: Gary Ramage

“Our political leaders and ministers should not request or accept gifts from the corporations they are in control of legislating over,” she said.

Fowler MP Dai Le said the suggestion Mr Albanese asked for flight upgrades “doesn’t sit right with me”.

“What Qantas does is up to Qantas as a business,” she said.

“But as an MP, they should have declared and declined. We have the ability to pay for our own upgrades.”

Independent Senator David Pocock said a ministerial code of conduct review was “worth doing” and questioned whether it should be okay “just to declare something”.

“Or is there actually a high expectation of our elected representatives once they’re making those decisions that affect industries to say: well, I’m not actually going to do that because I’m concerned that it creates a real of perceived conflict of interest,” he said.

In a statement on Wednesday afternoon a spokeswoman for the Prime Minister clarified Mr Albanese’s position.

“The Prime Minister did not ever call Alan Joyce seeking an upgrade,” she said.

“All travel has been appropriately declared and is a matter of public record.”

Then prime minister Scott Morrison, then Qantas CEO Alan Joyce and then opposition leader Anthony Albanese during the Qantas Centenary Launch at Qantas Sydney Jet Base in 2019. Picture: AAP

The comments come three days after concerns were first raised about a potential conflict of interest in Mr Albanese accepting flight upgrades from Qantas.

Mr Albanese’s spokesman clarified that the Prime Minister did not contact Mr Joyce via any other means in relation to upgrades, all of which were offered at the discretion of Qantas as occurs with other MPs.

Earlier this week Mr Albanese was repeatedly asked if he had phoned Mr Joyce about flight upgrades, and his evasive responses led the Coalition to demand he give a clear answer.

On Tuesday Mr Albanese had said the only two direct conversations he recalled with Mr Joyce related to non-commercial promotional flights for new routes to Dubai and London.

It is understood the delay in Mr Albanese’s office directly responding to requests about his alleged calls to Mr Joyce was due to the time it took to go through more than 30 years of travel records across multiple booking systems.

Originally published as PM clarifies his position on Qantas flight upgrades