Qantas staff warned over ‘bribery’ of MPs

EXCLUSIVE

Qantas employees have been expressly warned over potential “bribery” risks and reputational damage when offering “gifts” to Australian politicians worth more than $200 in a new all-staff training module.

News.com.au has confirmed that the training was rolled out by the airline on Monday and it urges employees to run any “gifts” to public officials and politicians past Qantas’ legal department.

Amid a firestorm over allegations Prime Minister Anthony Albanese received free upgrades from economy to business on private holidays from Qantas when he was transport minister and in opposition, that airline’s employees have been warned to keep their house in order.

In a section titled “gifts, benefits and hospitality,” or GBH, the training module notes that “offering, gifting or receiving of GBH on a modest scale, is sometimes used as a token of gratitude or respect to strengthen relationships among business people”.

“Depending on the circumstances, value and frequency, it is possible that GBH could be used to improperly influence decisions or be a conduit to disguise bribery,’’ the new module states.

“The Qantas group’s GBH reporting threshold in Australia is $200 However, other thresholds apply for different countries, so ensure that you check the guidelines, seek guidelines from your manager and prior approval before exchanging GBH that exceed the defined country threshold.

“Do not offer or provide GBH to a public official without prior approval from group legal.

“For more information, refer to gifts, benefits and hospitality guidelines available on The Terminal for Qantas or through JEN for Jetstar.

“How does bribery affect the Qantas group? An act of bribery or involvement in corrupt practices exposes the group to the risk of legal action by multiple regulators,’’ the new training module warned.

“Significant penalties: Individuals or organisations can be liable for unlimited fines of up to 15 years imprisonment, reputational and brand damage”.

PM’s big concession on Qantas

Anthony Albanese has conceded that he doesn’t know if his taxpayer-funded staff sought flight upgrades for private family holidays as calls mount for an overhaul of politicians’ perks.

But he has denied calling up former Qantas CEO Alan Joyce directly to ask for freebies.

The Prime Minister’s media unit has refused to answer written questions for days from news.com.au over whether Mr Albanese’s claim that he didn’t contact “anyone” at Qantas over upgrades extends to staff contacting the airline on his behalf.

But after days of stonewalling, he was confronted with the same question on ABC radio this morning and Mr Albanese conceded he didn’t have a clear answer.

“Did anyone in your office, not you personally, ever inquire about an upgrade for yourself with Qantas?’’ he was asked.

“We have a situation whereby politicians across the board got upgrades that was because of the way that the system works,’’ he claimed.

“It’s a simple question to you, did anyone in your office, not you necessarily …,’’ host Sabra Lane then asked.

“Not to my knowledge, no,’’ he replied.

“The only discussions … I’ve been upfront about this, everything has been declared and I’ve had no upgrades as Prime Minister.

“But one (upgrade) a year around, and that is less than many of my parliamentary colleagues.

Secret Chairman’s perks

While humble mortals need to use their frequent flyer points to upgrade their flights, current and former Qantas insiders have revealed that’s not the case with favoured politicians including Mr Albanese.

Qantas executives call it “reputational management”. Another word might be soft diplomacy because it’s clear Qantas didn’t dish out the flying favours to everyone.

It’s also provided a neat “fix” after former Labor finance minister Lindsay Tanner abolished the accrual of Qantas frequent flyer points for politicians for taxpayer-funded flights in 2009.

Qantas decided to simply offer upgrades to favoured politicians for free. And that’s how Mr Albanese lived the high life when travelling overseas ever since.

And under the current disclosure arrangements, that doesn’t break any rules because he simply declared the upgrade without having to say how much it is worth.

On some estimates, the flight upgrades are estimated to amount to a six-figure sum over the course of his career.

It’s also worth remembering that all MPs and ministers are authorised to fly business class domestically. So, when you see a politician has received an upgrade for international travel unless it’s for first class on a work trip, it’s generally an upgrade freebie for a private holiday.

The special deal was offered to politicians and key stakeholders. In other words, anyone that Qantas thought was important enough to enjoy freebie upgrades that on some international flights could be worth $10,000 if you actually paid for the upgrade.

There were two ways that it worked. First, according to senior Qantas staff, if you are a Platinum One or Chairman’s Club member when you made an economy booking you were often automatically put on a waitlist for an upgrade.

“So there’s no request. There would be times when someone on the Chairman’s team would say, ‘I’ve got a VIP, let’s get them an upgrade’,” a Qantas insider explained.

“Or there are times when we spot someone important flying and someone says ‘Let’s give them a good experience’.”

PM ‘good mates’ with Qantas execs

This is where someone like former Qantas government relations executive Andrew Parker was likely to step in.

As a direct report to Qantas CEO Alan Joyce, he was authorised to grant space available upgrades allowing MPs to move from an economy flight to business.

Mr Albanese also received upgrades on Emirates flights when Mr Parker worked for that airline.

A guaranteed flight upgrade could only be granted by Mr Joyce and he hasn’t revealed if he was in the habit of doing that for Mr Albanese and his family when they knew he was flying.

“But the idea of someone calling up the CEO directly and asking for an upgrade, that isn’t happening,” a Qantas insider said.

Instead, the reality was far more subtle.

Teal independent Allegra Spender says upgrades must end.

Amid claims the Teals have been silent on the issue, the member for Wentworth and independent Helen Haines has now called for an overhaul of politicians’ perks.

“Special treatment of politicians by Qantas and Virgin has undermined public trust in government and effective competition in the aviation industry,’’ Ms Spender said.

“All sides of politics enjoy the perks and both major parties have failed to bring increased competition and lower fares to Australian travellers.

“I will be writing to Qantas and Virgin asking them not to give free upgrades to any MPs or Senators.”

“I am also cancelling my Qantas and Virgin VIP Lounge memberships, which I was given when I entered parliament. Parliamentarians should not be taking free upgrades from Qantas or Virgin.”

It emerged last week that Coalition frontbencher Bridget McKenzie has failed to declare some upgrades and that a Labor minister Jason Clare had personally sought a flight upgrade for a private holiday from a government relations executive at Qantas.

National leader calls for perks crackdown

Meanwhile, Nationals leader David Littleproud has backed an overhaul of rules.

“I just don’t think it’s necessary for politicians to be able to have a line to ring up and get an upgrade on their personal flights,” he told Sky News.

“That’s not what the average punter can do.

“I think we should be in the same pot as the punter. You go into a pool and if you’re lucky enough to get one, you get one. If you don’t, well that’s based on equality and first in best dressed or whatever the policy is of the airline of the day.”

‘Bulls**t’: Qantas insider questions PM’s denials

Mr Albanese’s blanket denial that he sought flight upgrades have been described as “bulls**t” by a Qantas insider who claims his staff were in contact with the national carrier over the years raising fresh questions over his political fightback.

In explosive new claims, a Qantas whistleblower said that people were “freaking out” over the PM’s blanket denials insisting that there was contact between his office and the airline over upgrades in previous years.

“I know because I know. It’s bulls**t. It did happen,’’ the Qantas insider said.

“We all knew about it. It’s very well known inside Qantas. Andrew Parker used to get calls from Labor staffers as well about upgrades”.

Asked if Mr Albanese’s executive assistants or staff had ever been in contact over upgrades, a spokesman for the PM said the Liberal Party was getting desperate.

“Bookings were made in a normal way across Qantas booking systems and yes they would have been made by different people over a period of nearly three decades,’’ the spokesman said.

“Any upgrade issued by Qantas has been declared. The same cannot be said for the Opposition.”

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