‘In their face’: Liberals forced to backtrack

Peter Dutton’s attack on Anthony Albanese has “blown up in his face” after it emerged that a high-profile Liberal frontbencher accepted she may have failed to declare her own Qantas perks.

Liberal frontbencher Bridget McKenzie was confronted on the Today show on Friday morning over what an audit of her own flights had discovered after she led the attacks on the Prime Minister over 22 flight upgrades he received including for private holidays.

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

Earlier in the week, Senator McKenzie appeared on the Today show and was asked, “Did you ever ring Alan Joyce or anyone in Qantas?”

“I do not have a hotline to request upgrades. I have received an upgrade in 2018 that I declared,’’ she said.

But Senator McKenzie said she now accepted that she had received more upgrades than the single flight she mentioned on air.

“I think, you know, I was wrong earlier this week to be so emphatic,’’ she told the Today show.

“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.”

On Wednesday night, Anthony 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, the Prime Minister 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 a new book ‘The Chairman’s Lounge’ by Joe Aston, that 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.

Peter Dutton has also come under fire over revelations his office asked mining magnate Gina Rinehart to lend him a plane to fly overseas for a Bali bombing memorial.

“I mean, you’ve got the Opposition leader Peter Dutton, throwing mud at the PM for this while he’s getting around in a billionaire’s private jet. That is a terrible look,’’ Today show host Sarah Abo said.

“Well, at the end of the day, Peter Dutton jumping on Gina Rinehart’s airline flight meant we actually saved the taxpayer $40,000,’’ Senator McKenzie replied.