Peter Dutton photographed with The Chairman’s Lounge author Joe Aston

Opposition Leader Peter Dutton has been snapped catching up with the author of the bombshell new book The Chairman’s Lounge underlining what Labor critics claim are his links to the Liberal Party.

Former columnist with the Australian Financial Review Joe Aston has made no secret of his past as a Liberal staffer with Joe Hockey and Bruce Baird.

But his catch ups with Mr Dutton have now emerged courtesy of a snap taken by a fellow diner at Brasserie 1930 in Sydney in April, 2024.

The pair have known each other for years.

Stung by criticism of his relationship with Qantas, Prime Minister Anthony Albanese falsely accused the well-connected Aston this week of failing to declare he once worked for both the Liberal Party and Qantas, in an attempt to discredit his reporting.

“I don’t see declarations that he’s a former Liberal Party staffer for a number of senior members of the Liberal Party, including Joe Hockey and Bruce Baird,” Mr Albanese said.

“I don’t see declarations that he’s a former Qantas employee.”

This was false and Aston fired back at Mr Albanese saying the press conference made him appear “beyond desperate”.

Aston also previously worked for Qantas as a communications executive, as he outlines in his new book The Chairman’s Lounge and his wife Annabelle Aston also worked for Qantas’ communications operation. The couple met at a Qantas event.

Mr Albanese has now categorically denied claims in Aston’s book that he personally sought upgrades from former Qantas chief executive Alan Joyce.

“The Prime Minister did not ever call Alan Joyce seeking an upgrade,” a spokesperson said.

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

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

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

But Aston maintains Mr Albanese had an “insatiable appetite for VIP travel and hospitality”.

In an interview with Sky News host Sharri Markson, Aston said the Prime Minister was trying to “shoot the messenger”.

“He’s unfortunately decided to shoot the messenger, and he seems unable to answer the only question that people are interested in hearing,” he said.

Another confidante of Mr Dutton’s, former Liberal minister Jamie Briggs who was recently hired as the Liberal Party’s chief political adviser for the upcoming election campaign, was also in attendance at Aston’s book launch in Sydney featuring a who’s who of business leaders and media executives.

Mr Briggs famously injured himself during a leadership spill “wake” when Malcolm Turnbull rolled Tony Abbott as leader in 2015. Mr Briggs was wheeled into a party room meeting in a wheelchair the following day, saying he had sustained the injury during “high jinks with the former prime minister”.

“Everyone knows that Tony Abbott is a very fit man, he’s a very strong man, and I’m not at the peak of my powers as far as fitness and strength is concerned and I lost,” Mr Briggs told 2GB.

“We were mucking around, let me put it that way.”