‘Upgrade’ Albanese’s attack on Qantas critics just makes it worse

Anthony Albanese’s attempt on Tuesday to quash questions over his free Qantas flight upgrades was a complete mess.

The prime minister made a mistake on key details, attempted to re-direct heat onto Opposition Leader Peter Dutton, and was evasive when asked if he had ever contacted former Qantas chief executive Alan Joyce to ask for an upgrade.

Just a fortnight after the prime minister’s clifftop house purchase burst into view, Albanese’s indignation risks turning this into another saga like “choppergate”, the taxpayer-funded ride to a fundraiser that claimed the speakership of Bronwyn Bishop almost a decade ago. As a senior Labor source said on Tuesday: “Albanese needs a one-way ticket to a mirror so he can take a long hard look at himself.”

Clearly, the prime minister and his team have decided to tough it out and hope that the bad headlines blow over by spreading the muck around and catching out a few Coalition MPs, too.

The timing of the release of the COVID-19 inquiry on Tuesday – brought forward by two days – seems designed to create the space for the scandal to blow over.

Most Australians would be aware that politicians get free upgrades on flights, tickets to major sporting events and other perks not available to ordinary folk.

Bronwyn Bishop (right) dug in over her travel issues a decade ago. Anthony Albanese is taking a similar approach.Credit:

What is different here is the fact that Albanese was the transport minister regulating Qantas when some of these upgrades were granted and former Australian Financial Review columnist Joe Aston reports he went all the way to the top of the airline to secure them.

Aston – author of The Chairman’s Lounge, the new book that has laid bare the allegations about “Upgrade Albo”, as some Coalition MPs are calling him in a new twist on their “Airbus Albanese” jab – was in the prime minister’s sights on Tuesday.

Albanese attacked Aston for not declaring that he once worked for former Coalition MPs Joe Hockey and Bruce Baird, that he once worked for Qantas, and that he had recently appeared at a Liberal Party fundraiser.

It would’ve been a devastating attack, except that Aston discloses his time with the Liberal Party and Qantas on the first page of his book. Albanese, and whoever briefed him, should have known that.

And Aston’s stinging criticism of former treasurer Josh Frydenberg’s profligate JobKeeper wage subsidy program during the coronavirus pandemic makes clear he is no Liberal stooge.

Back in July 2015, it emerged that then-speaker Bronwyn Bishop had billed taxpayers to fly by helicopter to a fundraiser in Geelong.

Within a matter of days, Bishop repaid the $5000 cost of the flight but she dug in for weeks and refused to admit she had done anything wrong. By the time she apologised, it was too late. She lost her job.

Albanese won’t lose his job over this scandal and there is no suggestion that taxpayers have footed the bill for his upgrades or that he hasn’t declared them.

But hot on the heels of the prime minister’s $4.3 million luxury property purchase, his reputation as “Mr Public Housing” is being smashed and his political capital squandered.

Albanese is missing the point with his finger-pointing. The more he digs in, the more he’ll sound like Bishop.

He may not think it fair, but the prime minister should grit his teeth, apologise and donate the value of the flight upgrades “out of an abundance of caution” to a worthy charity.

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