PM declares he ‘did not ever’ call Joyce for Qantas upgrades

Prime Minister Anthony Albanese has moved to quell a political storm over his personal integrity by declaring he never called former Qantas chief Alan Joyce to ask for flight upgrades, issuing the statement late on Wednesday after days of questions about the private benefits.

The move came as cabinet ministers pledged “completely solid” support for Albanese and insisted he did no favours for the airline, amid signs of anxiety in the Labor caucus about the damage to the government when it goes to the next election.

Prime Minister Anthony Albanese and former Qantas chief Alan Joyce.Credit: Getty Images

Ministers closed ranks behind the prime minister and stepped up their claims of an unfair attack on his integrity, although one MP said privately that Albanese “loved a freebie” and had been handling the dispute badly.

Opposition Leader Peter Dutton sought to intensify pressure on the prime minister by demanding answers to questions about whether he called Joyce to request the upgrades.

A spokeswoman for the prime minister responded to that demand late on Wednesday by issuing a statement that ruled out any calls to Joyce.

“The prime minister did not ever call Alan Joyce seeking an upgrade,” the spokeswoman said.

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

The statement came after days of work inside the prime minister’s office to check travel and office records over more than a decade, but the prime minister’s office did not elaborate on whether the statement included texts and emails.

Joyce declined to comment.

Asked about cabinet’s support for the prime minister, Health Minister Mark Butler said it was “completely solid” and the ministry was focused on the cost of living rather than the political dispute.

Defence Industry Minister Pat Conroy said Albanese had taken on Qantas to lift wages for workers and oppose workforce sackings, rather than helping the airline because of the upgrades.

Conroy, a close ally of the prime minister, said Dutton and Coalition transport spokeswoman Bridget McKenzie had also accepted flight upgrades from Qantas and were siding with the airline in a dispute before the parliament on workplace law.

“Judge us by our actions,” Conroy said. He listed Labor’s criticism of Qantas for grounding its fleet in an industrial dispute in 2011, for sacking workers during the pandemic and for replacing employees with contractors on lower pay rates.

“Right now, we’re implementing the same job, same pay legislation that will deliver $30,000 pay rises to Qantas labour-hire workers who are being discriminated against by Qantas right now,” he said.

“Who has been on the side of Qantas on all of those matters? Peter Dutton and Bridget McKenzie. They have taken all those upgrades and they’ve been on the side of Qantas every single step of the journey.”

Treasurer Jim Chalmers, Housing Minister Clare O’Neil, Finance Minister Katy Gallagher and Social Services Minister Amanda Rishworth also backed the prime minister in a series of media appearances by senior Labor figures on Wednesday, as the government sought to end days of media headlines.

An extract of The Chairman’s Lounge by Joe Aston, published in Good Weekend on Saturday, reported at least 22 free Qantas upgrades for Albanese over the period from 2009 to 2022, including one upgrade for family and some for personal travel. The book says Albanese liaised directly with Joyce, citing Qantas insiders without naming them.

This masthead spoke to eight Labor MPs, including ministers, who expressed a mixture of dismay, anger and frustration with the prime minister’s actions and the handling of the fallout.

One MP also expressed some sympathy with the prime minister given the flight upgrades had been received over a long period of time.

Another MP, who asked not to be named, said the prime minister had brought the attention over his close relationship with Joyce and Qantas upon himself.

“This has also been a reminder how bad we are at handling shit issues like this. We get incoming and then we make it worse,” they said.

Another MP noted that Albanese, who has faced scrutiny this term for attending the Australian Open tennis, AFL finals and concerts, said the prime minister had demonstrated over a long period that he “loved a freebie”.

A third Labor source, who also asked not to be named, said that in the daily “talking points” issued to MPs before they make media appearances, there had been no advice on how to address the prime minister’s frequent flight upgrades with Qantas.

“It’s because they are scared that it will leak,” that person said, adding that negative coverage had been “buried” in the press clippings sent around each morning for some weeks.

“It’s one of the PMO’s worst kept secrets … they bury the bad stories [in the daily clippings] about Albanese so caucus doesn’t get itself in a lather.”

With federal parliament returning next week, the Coalition is preparing questions for Albanese to answer about his relationship with Qantas and the government’s decision last year to reject an application from Qatar Airways to gain more flights to and from Australia.

Earlier on Wednesday, Dutton said Albanese was avoiding direct questions about whether he had asked Joyce for upgrades.

“Did he pick the phone up to the CEO of Qantas and ask for a free upgrade? That’s the question that he refuses to answer,” Dutton said.

“Now he can tie himself in all sorts of knots, but the reality is that he needs to answer that fundamental question.

“The second question is: given the very friendly, long-standing relationship between Mr Joyce and the prime minister, what were the circumstances around the prime minister’s decision to not allow Qatar Airways into Australia?

“If Qatar was flying on routes from Perth to Sydney or Perth to Melbourne or Perth to Brisbane, at the moment, people in WA, people in the Northern Territory and in other parts of the country would be paying lower airfares.”

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