PM’s denial of upgrade requests took too long

Prime Minister Anthony Albanese’s belated move to quell a report that he requested upgrades from former Qantas chief Alan Joyce took a long time coming and does little to remove the impression that he finds it difficult to distinguish between his private and public lives.

The allegations had festered for more than four days before he finally issued a statement declaring he never called Joyce to ask for flight upgrades. The statement came as cabinet ministers pledged “completely solid” support for Albanese and insisted he did no favours for the airline.

Albanese’s alleged upgrade requests were revealed in an extract from a new book by former Australian Financial Review journalist Joe Aston on Qantas, The Chairman’s Lounge, published in the Herald last Saturday. He allegedly had received 22 upgrades.

Until his public statement late on Wednesday, the prime minister subsided deeper into a hole of his own making. He started digging it when he sought preferential treatment from Joyce over the years he held transport portfolios in both government and opposition.

He said he had been completely transparent and had acted within the rules. He probably has. If that is so, more’s the pity. Rules that allow a politician to feel free to phone an airline boss with impunity and request special treatment ought to be changed.

Adding to the disquiet, Albanese also attacked the messenger, saying author Aston was a former Liberal staffer, as though it somehow invalidated the upgrade disclosures. In fact, Aston – who previously incurred the prime minister’s wrath by revealing he had approached Joyce to have his son, Nathan, given chairman’s lounge membership – declared his Liberal connection in the opening page of his book, a fact any astute handler should have informed the prime minister of.

Upgrades happen. Most people would not say no to one, but there is a massive difference between someone receiving an upgrade and the minister in charge of transport and regulating Qantas calling the CEO and asking to be indulged.

Albanese initially did not appear to realise this. But then his penchant for the front of the plane has perhaps overwhelmed his political shrewdness.

The upgrades’ furore has certainly handed the opposition another bucket, with Liberal frontbencher Sussan Ley and Nationals MP Bridget McKenzie tipping happily. We should not forget that they, too, have had their own problems. NSW MP Ley resigned as a minister in 2017 after revelations she had charged taxpayers to fly to the Gold Coast to buy an apartment. Three years later, McKenzie resigned as a minister after scandal erupted around her awarding a $36,000 grant to a regional Victorian shooting club without declaring that she was a member.

With the housing crisis and rising costs eroding support for Labor, Albanese’s recent purchase of a Central Coast beach house and now his slow-in-coming defence of upgrades suggest the prime minister is artlessly unaware he has made his personal values, rather than policies, issues for judgment. His unwillingness to scotch the allegations quickly and forcefully is a problem that gives nervous Labor MPs even more cause to be concerned about the outcome of the next federal election.

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