Bridget McKenzie concedes stuff-up over upgrade declarations

Nationals frontbencher Bridget McKenzie has conceded she failed to notify Parliament over 16 flight upgrades after leading the attacks on Prime Minister Anthony Albanese over his Qantas links.

News.com.au has confirmed Ms McKenzie has updated her register to reflect more than a dozen flights she failed to disclose over a period of years.

Senator McKenzie has been one of Mr Albanese’s most vocal critics since it emerged in a new book, The Chairman’s Lounge, that he scored 22 flight upgrades since 2009. But it’s now emerged she failed to notify Parliament herself over multiple flights herself in a serious breach of parliamentary rules.

Senator McKenzie’s latest paperwork bungle follows her decision to quit Cabinet and resigned as deputy Nationals leader in the wake of the so-called sports rorts affair four years ago.

Senator McKenzie’s fate was sealed after an investigation found she breached ministerial standards by failing to disclose her $30 membership of a gun club that received almost $36,000 from a controversial sports grants program.

There is no suggestion that Mr Albanese failed to declare any of his own flight upgrades as required, simply questions over whether he asked for the upgrades personally – a claim he denies – and whether it was appropriate to accept the gift when he was in the role of transport minister.

About half of Mr Albanese’s upgrades were for private family holidays overseas with his wife and son ensuring they were put in business class at no extra charge.

The flights were declared to Parliament but the book’s author Joe Aston raised questions over whether Mr Albanese personally requested the upgrades or had a “hotline” to former Qantas chief executive Alan Joyce – a claim the Prime Minister denies.

‘I was wrong to be so emphatic’

Senator McKenzie was confronted on the Today show last week over what an audit of her own flights had discovered after she led the attacks on Mr Albanese over 22 flight upgrades he received including for private holidays.

She conceded she had now discovered additional flights that were upgraded but not declared.

“I think, you know, I was wrong earlier this week to be so emphatic,’’ she said.

“I did end up having an upgrade that I had declared, but it really highlighted for me the need to check the records accurately and to go to the source, which is why I’ve written to three airlines to get the full log of upgrades and flights since becoming a senator in 2017.”

The mea culpa was leapt on by Labor frontbencher Bill Shorten who said the Liberal Party had “wasted a week of the nation’s life, which we’re not going to get back”.

“All they’ve done is try and throw mud, and most of it’s ended up on their own face,’’ he said.

“Where is Peter Dutton? I mean, he’s famously got a glass jaw. Now we know he lives in a glass house. The Prime Minister declared all of his upgrades. How’s that going, Bridget? And I just think we need to get back the cost of living.

“The Prime Minister is under an obligation to declare these matters. He literally has. And instead, we’ve had the Opposition carry on like they are a choir of angels. So they’ve got a, you know, they’ve put themselves up to a higher standard. And let’s face it, it’s just blown up in their face.”

Senator McKenzie said she would be updating the register shortly.

“I don’t like to hold others to a standard I’m not prepared to subject myself to. I think that’s really important and I’ll be obviously updating declarations and MPs are doing that right now across the board on both sides,” she said.

“But the difference between the PM and I is he’s the minister in control of the aviation sector. He’s the guy making the decisions on whether Qantas is subjected to more competition or not. Because he was the transport minister at the time.”

PM defends conduct

Last week Mr Albanese broke his silence on the Qantas upgrade mess revealing an audit of his travel has confirmed he never directly called Qantas CEO Alan Joyce about upgrades for personal travel.

But crucially, the Prime Minister is not denying in a public statement – as revealed by news.com.au – that he or his staff may have called Qantas’ government relations contacts to book the flights with upgrades then offered by Qantas.

While there have been reports that Mr Albanese denies calling “anyone” at Qantas over flight upgrades he has not said this in the carefully worded statement he released or publicly and he has not commented on whether his executive assistants may have discussed upgrades with Qantas on his behalf.

Instead, he is simply denying that he ever personally liaised with Mr Joyce directly on the subject of upgrades for family holidays.

“The Prime Minister did not ever call Alan Joyce seeking an upgrade,’’ a spokesperson told news.com.au.

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

The new account directly contradicts an account in Aston’s The Chairman’s Lounge, which asserts “Albanese would liaise with Joyce directly about his personal travel”.

Government sources said it had taken two days to issue the firm denial to allow staff to go back and check the records as far back as 20 years ago.