The fact that the Prime Minister does not believe there is anything wrong with asking the CEO of Qantas for flight upgrades for personal trips – on no less than 22 occasions – is perhaps the worst aspect of this sorry saga.
Anthony Albanese asked then Qantas chief executive Alan Joyce for business and first class upgrades when Albo was transport minister, shadow transport minister and opposition leader.
In other words, when I had portfolio responsibilities at Qantas.
Who seriously thinks the CEO of Qantas thought he could say no?
How is it okay to personally request a promotion from a business leader who operates within the area your portfolio is responsible for?
Albo has not asked for improvements since becoming prime minister. I guess he has his own taxpayer-funded plane now.
But it has certainly returned the favor Qantas did it, rejecting Qatar’s offer of additional routes to Australia that would have put downward pressure on airfares.
Instead, Qantas has happily maintained its market advantage under Albo’s tenure as prime minister.
Anthony Albanese asked then Qantas chief executive Alan Joyce for business and first class upgrades when Albo was transport minister, shadow transport minister and opposition leader. Above, with Joyce and Albanese’s fiancée, Jodie Haydon.
Of course, the Prime Minister will say that one thing has nothing to do with the other. What about the perception it might have?
If Albo were an Australian Public Service bureaucrat, his actions would breach the Ombudsman’s advice to avoid “apparent” or “potential” conflicts of interest.
But since he is a politician and not a public official, a technical reading of the rules for deputies and senators allows Albo to keep his nose firmly in the trough, in addition to brazenly claiming that there is nothing wrong with what he has done.
I doubt many voters will agree.
One of the flight upgrades, less than a year before Scott Morrison’s family vacation to Hawaii on a Jetstar flight, was also for a vacation to Hawaii in 2019.
Only Albo flew Qantas business class and presumably also sampled some quality food and drinks in the Chairman’s Lounge before his departure.
Albo says he complied with all disclosure requirements on each and every one of the 22 occasions he sought special help from the Qantas CEO.
What a relief.
Yes, it revealed the updates, that’s true. However, he did not reveal that he personally called the airline’s CEO to request (demand?) such improvements.
Technically, that is not a requirement under current disclosure provisions.
It’s also not technically against the rules to ask for a special promotion to an organization you oversee as a minister, believe it or not.
Of course, it should be.
Albo believes that there is nothing to see here and that journalists are unfair to even ask questions about the subject.
He didn’t do anything wrong, no need to change the rules. Case closed.
You have to be kidding.
Even if Albo were to sail against the wind and stay within the rules, they would surely need to be amended to prevent future MPs and prime ministers from doing what Albo has done.
It is deeply inappropriate.
The problem with admitting that the rules need to be changed is that doing so highlights that Albo’s personal moral compass was flawed.
He needed rules to stop him from doing the wrong thing.
It would look bad, so he stands his ground and claims that the existing rules are fit for purpose when they clearly are not.
Scott Morrison and his wife Jenny at least flew Jetstar to Hawaii during their ill-timed bushfire holiday abroad.
Albo believes that there is nothing to see here and journalists are unfair to even ask questions about the subject
I have contacted the Prime Minister’s office to seek details about the circumstances surrounding these updates.
My application was handed to former Guardian Australia political editor Katharine Murphy, who once did a good job of holding Coalition MPs accountable for their actions.
Now it turns to Albo. I never received a response. Nothing, nothing, zero.
I am sure that, behind closed doors, he is advising Albo to live up to the standards he demanded of other politicians when he worked in journalism.
At his press conference today Treasurer Jim Chalmers was asked about Airbus Albo’s penchant for flight improvements.
He made it clear that he certainly never asked the Qantas CEO for such a promotion, nor does he believe he ever received an unsolicited upgrade.
Chalmers’ disdain for Albo’s snout on our national airline’s channel was evident.
Albo’s 22 requests for upgrades are the ultimate example of a politician’s right.
This comes from a Prime Minister who is simultaneously trying to use his personal story as evidence that he understands the needs and challenges of the majority of Australians.
Maybe he once did. But for the last 30 years he has been an MP, a minister and a prime minister enjoying the benefits that power and influence bring him.
And he’s so blinded by that privilege that he can’t even see what’s wrong with it anymore.