“Serious questions” raised over Albanese’s Qantas perks
Flight upgrades, Chairman’s Lounge access, Lifetime Platinum Membership, an iPad and sporting tickets are just some of the freebies Anthony Albanese received from Qantas, including while he was Transport Minister.
NSW
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Anthony Albanese’s love-in with Qantas soared to new heights yesterday as the full extent of his freebies from the national carrier came to light, prompting claims he now has “serious questions” to answer.
The Coalition jumped on the revelations, with Opposition Leader Peter Dutton accusing the Prime Minister of calling his “best friend (former Qantas chief executive) Alan Joyce” to solicit upgrades on domestic and international flights, including for private travel.
Since 2010, Mr Albanese has received at least two dozen flight upgrades and gifts from Australia’s largest airline.
That includes a Qantas Lifetime Platinum Membership, while Mr Albanese, his partner Jodie Haydon and son Nathan are all members of the exclusive Qantas Chairman’s Lounge.
Many of these perks were provided to Mr Albanese while he was Labor’s Transport Minister in the Rudd-Gillard-Rudd governments.
Gifts from Qantas during that time included an iPad, upgrades on a return flight to Singapore, business-class upgrades from Honolulu, tickets to the cricket at the Sydney Cricket Ground, and a cookbook by celebrity chef Neil Perry.
In 2018, while in opposition, Mr Albanese was a guest on the inaugural non-stop Qantas flight between Perth and London, which included three nights’ accommodation.
Mr Albanese’s close ties with Qantas and its former CEO have been detailed in a new book, which revealed “Albanese would liaise with Joyce directly about his personal travel”. According to The Chairman’s Lounge, by journalist Joe Aston, “while other Qantas executives could authorise space available upgrades in flight bookings … only Joyce could issue confirmed or guaranteed upgrades, the kind that Albanese was treated to”.
Responding to the claims yesterday, Mr Dutton said “there are strange arrangements when you can pick the phone up to the CEO and ask as the transport minister for an upgrade”.
When approached for comment, a spokesperson from Mr Albanese’s office said “this is all a matter of public record … the Prime Minister has made the appropriate disclosures”.
Opposition transport spokeswoman Bridget McKenzie said there were “serious questions of the influence of this relationship between the Prime Minister and Qantas, that have impacted decisions the government has made about competition in the aviation sector”.
Senator McKenzie pointed to a range of decisions made by Labor governments which had benefited Qantas, including blocking Qatar Airways from expanding in Australia, as proof Mr Albanese had been “running a protection racket” for the airline.
Last year, the Albanese government made the extraordinary decision of blocking Qatar Airways, a key rival of Qantas, from adding 21 flights per week to Sydney, Melbourne and Brisbane routes.
Labor rejected the proposal, claiming it was “protecting the national interest”, but the decision was overwhelmingly criticised, including by former heads of consumer watchdog, the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission.
Employment Minister Murray Watt yesterday defended Mr Albanese, insisting “when it comes to Qantas … he hasn’t played favourites”.
“When he was the transport minister more than a decade ago, when Qantas grounded their fleet (over an industrial dispute) … Anthony Albanese took Qantas on,” Mr Watt told Nine.
Last year during the Voice to Parliament referendum, Qantas threw its support behind Labor’s Yes vote push, spending more than $350,000 supporting the campaign, providing flights to its leading campaigners and rebranding several planes to show support. Mr Albanese tweeted a photo in August 2023 alongside Mr Joyce, with the caption: “The Spirit of Australia says Yes.”
The Prime Minister, who regularly references his childhood in housing commission, recently came under fire for purchasing a $4.3m beach house on the Central Coast amid the housing crisis.
As one Labor insider noted regarding the Qantas perks: “All this shows is what we’ve always know
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Originally published as “Serious questions” raised over Albanese’s Qantas perks
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