Albo under fire on Qantas upgrades

The Prime Minister has come under fire after reportedly asking former Qantas boss Alan Joyce for free flight upgrades on personal overseas trips.

Speaking on Monday morning, opposition leader Peter Dutton said the alleged act was “a bit strange”, while former deputy PM Barnaby Joyce declared it “doesn’t pass the pub test” if the upgrades were requested as reported.

The criticism follows revelations in The Chairman’s Lounge by former Australian Financial Review columnist Joe Aston, which claimed Mr Albanese personally solicited the free flights from Mr Joyce, beginning from when he was Transport Minister in the Rudd government in 2009.

Altogether, the book claims Mr Albanese received about 22 free upgrades.

The Opposition Leader said Mr Albanese needed to explain the conversations around the upgrades.

“When you’re talking about having a personal phone call to ask for an upgrade as the Transport Minister or the shadow transport minister, I presume the Prime Minister is going to answer questions about that,” he said.

Mr Dutton also defended his own free upgrades, which he said he publicly declared and were based on cabin availability.

“I average about 200 flights a year, and you’re saying I’ve had 15 upgrades over 23 years, none of which happened (as transport minister) and none of which happened as a result of me calling my best friend, Alan Joyce at Qantas,” he said.

Nationals firebrand Barnaby Joyce has said while politicians receiving flight upgrades wasn’t out of the ordinary, Mr Albanese reportedly soliciting free upgraded flights does not “pass the pub test”.

“I think if every person who gets an upgrade is in trouble, then we’re going to have a lot of people in trouble … I acknowledge 100 per cent that a lot of politicians get upgrades, me included,” he told Seven.

“It’s whether you solicit it … especially if you ring up Alan Joyce, that’s the issue. That’s an issue that Mr Albanese has to explain.”

As it stands, Mr Albanese has defended the upgrades and said he had publicly declared the gifts, however has not addressed the alleged conversations between himself and Mr Joyce which led to the upgrades.

“From time to time, members of parliament receive upgrades. What’s important is that they are declared. All of mine have been declared,” he told reporters on Sunday.

“I note that a range of them go back a long, a long period of time [and] that they have all been declared as appropriate.”

Facing multiple questions on the topic, Jim Chalmers said he had never asked Mr Joyce for an upgraded flights, but wasn’t able to rule out whether he had been given a free upgrade.

However he declined to comment whether there should be stronger checks for politicians receiving gifts from stakeholders which are affected by politically sensitive decisions.

“I think it’s appropriate that there are robust arrangements for it, and that includes some kind of declaration,” the Treasurer said.

NDIS Minister Bill Shorten also defended Mr Albanese.

“He has been dilligient over many years and transparent declaring whatever he receives, as is the standard that’s expected of all of us,” he said.