Anthony Albanese has tried to claim his relationship with Alan Joyce was strictly professional between a Prime Minister and a corporate titan, as he fights claims the Qantas boss was his “personal travel agent” for free flights and upgrades.
However, that characterization of the relationship was at odds with that made by Joyce, who said he was “good friends” with Albanese and had been “for years.”
In the wake of explosive claims that the Prime Minister had made Joyce get free tickets and upgrades, Albanese distanced himself from the Qantas boss.
When asked on Sunday about their relationship, Albanese implied it was purely in a professional capacity, having been Transport Minister and shadow transport spokesperson before becoming Prime Minister.
“He (Joyce) was the CEO of the national airline… I had the same relationship with him that I have with John Borghetti as CEO of Virgin,” Albanese said.
That assessment contradicted the numerous photographs showing Mr. Albanese and Mr. Joyce apparently thoroughly enjoying each other’s company.
Albanese and Joyce were photographed in high spirits on the red carpet at Qantas’ 100th gala dinner in March last year.
In photos from the event, Joyce walks proudly down the red carpet with one arm around the Prime Minister and the other around Albanese’s partner, Jodie Haydon.
Just five months later, in August, a smiling Mr Albanese attended Qantas’ unveiling of its special ‘Yes 23’-flagged planes for the Voice referendum.
Former Qantas chief executive Alan Joyce jovially walked the red carpet with one arm around the prime minister and the other around his partner, Jodie Haydon, for a special anniversary event last year.
Joyce was seen touching Albanese’s arm, and the prime minister burst into laughter.
Even when Scott Morrison was prime minister, Joyce enjoyed a seemingly close relationship with Albanese when the pair were together at the launch of the historic Qantas flight from Perth to London in March 2018.
During a Senate hearing in September 2023, Joyce said he had been “friends for years” with Albanese.
When asked why he gifted Albanese’s son Nathan a membership to the prestigious and exclusive Chairman’s Lounge, Joyce refused to confirm or deny, but spoke of his relationship with the Prime Minister.
“I’ve been good friends with Albo for some time,” Joyce said.
However, the then Qantas CEO refused to say whether he lobbied the Prime Minister over the controversial decision to exclude competitor Qatar Airways from domestic routes.
Since then, in a new book about Qantas, The Chairman’s Lounge, by former Australian Financial Review columnist Joe Aston, it emerges that Ms Haydon is also a member of the Chairman’s Lounge.
Albanese and Joyce also seemed to really enjoy each other’s company at a Qantas event in August last year.
Reports have emerged in a new book. Albanese received 22 economy class upgrades from Qantas and would personally contact the airline’s former boss to obtain them.
Aston also alleged that Albanese contacted Joyce directly while he was at his various parliamentary jobs to request special improvements for himself or his family.
According to unnamed Qantas sources, 11 of the 22 flights for which Albanese received upgrades were “privately funded” and included overseas trips to Rome, London, Los Angeles and Honolulu, some of them for holidays.
Albanese insisted on Tuesday that the flights to London were for work purposes and that they were all “declared in the appropriate manner”.
Opposition leader Peter Dutton has launched into accusations describing Mr Albanese as Mr Joyce’s “best friend”.
Dutton told Sky News on Monday night that it was “strange” that Albanese had contacted Joyce directly to request improvements while he was in a regulatory role in the transport sector.
“If you are the Minister of Transport and you answer the phone to one of the most important stakeholders in the portfolio asking for a free update, I think the Prime Minister would be able to answer those questions more effectively than anyone else because I don’t have knowledge that no one else has done it,” Mr. Dutton said.
It has since emerged that Ms Haydon is also a member of the Qantas Chairman’s Lounge.
The Prime Minister denied frequently asking Joyce for improvements on Tuesday at a news conference in the New South Wales city of Newcastle.
“The only conversations I remember with Alan Joyce certainly weren’t over calls – we talked about the first flight from Australia to Dubai on the A380,” he said.
“I have declared everything according to all the rules.”
ABC interviewer Sarah Ferguson asked Aston on Monday night how sure he was that Albanese had personally made calls to Joyce to request updates.
“I feel very comfortable with my sourcing,” Aston said.
Asked if he thought Albanese had been influenced by Joyce’s lobby to block the United Arab Emirates airline Qatar in the country, Aston said it was “far-fetched” to think the Prime Minister’s office had nothing to do with the decision.
Albanese’s son Nathan, 24, has also reportedly been granted access to the Qantas Chairman’s Lounge (pictured, Albanese and his son Nathan in May 2022).
“It is very difficult to imagine a politically sensitive decision in the Albanian government that does not go through the Prime Minister’s office,” Aston responded.
He noted that Qatar had apparently been navigating the opening of the Australian domestic market and that Transport Minister Catherine King spoke warmly about the proposal until “everything changed” to stop it in its tracks.
King repeatedly denied in parliament that the decision to block Qatar was due to Qantas putting pressure on her or any Labor colleagues.
Although Albanese claimed he declared all upgrades received from Qantas, the Australian Financial Review reported on Tuesday that he did not do so with his ex-wife Carmel Tebbutt when the two traveled together.
Opposition Leader Peter Dutton has questioned alleged personal requests Albanese made to Joyce while he was carrying out his various parliamentary roles.
Even when Scott Morrison was prime minister, Joyce appeared to have a close relationship with Albanese (the pair are pictured at an event in 2019).
Sky New presenter Sharri Markson on Monday night branded Mr Joyce “basically Mr Albanese’s personal travel agent”.
‘This is all a matter of integrity. Most Australians struggle to afford even a cheap plane ticket. They could never afford business class. “It’s out of our reach,” he said.
‘Can Albanese really be impartial when it comes to making decisions about Qantas when he has been receiving tens of thousands of dollars in free business class upgrades? The revelations call into question the decision he made as Transport Minister and Prime Minister.
‘Integrity issues aside, this revelation is also politically lethal. Albanese took it upon himself to create a self-image of the housing commission guy who did it. But the perception is now taking hold that a long-term pollie enjoys the benefits of public office.
Another uncomfortable paradox of Mr Albanese’s apparently close relationship with Mr Joyce is that the Labor leader was a unionist campaigner, while Qantas attempted to break the power of the Transport Workers Union by laying off 1,700 employees during Covid.
The dismissal has since been ruled unlawful by the Federal Court in a case brought by the union in which Qantas faces possible hundreds of thousands of compensation payments.
However, the friendship found a perhaps unlikely champion in 3AW’s semi-retired radio star Neil Mitchell.
“Quick test: updating Albo looks bad,” Mitchell wrote on X.
‘But does anyone think he was seriously compromised by having Alan Joyce as a best friend? It’s time to rewrite the rules that govern politicians.