Anthony Albanese has declared he never ‘called’ former Qantas chief executive Alan Joyce requesting upgrades after four days of scrutiny over their relationship and travel perks.
The Prime Minister continued to insist all his travel has been appropriately declared after a new book revealed he received at least 22 flight upgrades for both work and personal travel — including while he was transport minister – and had allegedly directly contacted Mr Joyce for some of those.
The Opposition demanded Mr Albanese declare whether he acted “on behalf of Qantas” during the Government’s decision last year to block Qatar Airways’ bid for more flights into Australia.
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A spokesperson for the Prime Minister said in a statement late on Wednesday: “The Prime Minister did not ever call Alan Joyce seeking an upgrade. All travel has been appropriately declared and is a matter of public record.”
His office said it checked records stretching back the 28 years he had been in Parliament out of an abundance of caution.
It’s understood they show travel arrangements were made by a range of people, all bookings were made through the normal Qantas channels and upgrades were offered in the same way they are to other politicians.
The Prime Minister was adamant he did not communicate at all with Mr Joyce about his personal travel plans, other than the two publicity flights marking Qantas launching new routes, which he spoke about on Tuesday.
As scrutiny of the Prime Minister’s years of accepting flight upgrades from Qantas carried on for a fourth day, integrity campaigners called for all gifts and hospitality for politicians to be banned outright, likening it to tobacco donations.
Opposition Leader Peter Dutton has called for the Prime Minister to refer himself to the National Anti-Corruption Commission and suggested that, in exchange for the perks, Mr Albanese had acted in Qantas’ best interests when he blocked the Qatar Airways’ bid for more flights into Australia last year.
“If Qatar was flying on routes from Perth to Sydney or Perth to Melbourne or Perth to Brisbane at the moment, people in WA, people in the Northern Territory and in other parts of the country, would be paying lower airfares,” he told reporters in Dampier on Wednesday.
“But the Prime Minister made a decision which wasn’t properly explained at the time, which starved Qatar of the opportunity to come into our market, reduced competition, and therefore has held up the prices of airfares for too long.”
Government ministers, many of whom are silently frustrated at the distraction, have rallied to defend the PM.
Transparency advocate Sean Johnson said the idea of it being fine for politicians to accept gifts and other hospitality provided they disclose them was absurd.
“It’s a bit like with the tobacco industry (donating to political parties). Remember, you used to have a lot of Liberal politicians would say it’s a legal product, they pay taxes. And it’s like, is that the best argument that you’ve got?” he told The Nightly.
“Big deal, you comply with those (disclosure) obligations, but I don’t think the public would find it acceptable.”
Mr Johnson is a formal Liberal staffer but has put politicians of all stripes under scrutiny via his Open Politics website.
He said taking largesse was “such normalised behaviour” among politicians that they didn’t see any issue with it.
But it was now out of step with community expectations and should be banned outright — or at the very least, disclosed in greater detail and faster with real penalties for breaches.
“I do think the only solution is a ban,” he said.
“Someone gives you something expensive, you’re going to want to help them in return … and I’d argue in Labor and Liberals’ case, it means protecting Qantas from competition, (in) both domestic markets and internationally.
“They may not even be aware of what they’re doing, but it’s just nonsensical to argue that you can accept thousands of dollars worth of benefits over, what 25 years, 26 years he’s been in parliament, and it not have an impact.”
Liberal senator Jane Hume said if the scandal involved any other minister, they would be “kicked out on their arse”.
Cabinet minister Amanda Rishworth meanwhile said the Coalition was engaging in a “pile-on on the Prime Minister and his family” and turning the scandal into a “completely political” attack.
“The hypocrisy that Peter Dutton calls on the Prime Minister to answer questions but hasn’t explained his use of the Gina Rinehart private jet,” she said.
“So, quite frankly, I think there’s a lot of politics here and a lot of hypocrisy from the opposition. I mean, we have (opposition frontbencher) Paul Fletcher who’s declared 69 upgrades. So, I think what I’m pointing out here is the hypocrisy of the opposition playing politics with this.”
Colleague Mark Butler, a close confidante of Mr Albanese, said the Prime Minister had the cabinet’s “completely solid” support.
“He answered all of these questions forthrightly,” he said.