Anthony Albaneseās Qantas flight upgrade denials questioned
Anthony Albaneseās denials over Qantas flight upgrades have been slammed as ābulls**tā, according to an airline insider, as the crisis over airline perks escalated on Thursday.
It was reported a Qantas whistleblower called into question the Prime Ministerās categorical denial he had ever sought upgrades from former airline boss Alan Joyce.
āI know because I know. Itās bulls**t. It did happen,āā the Qantas insider said.
āWe all knew about it. Itās very well known inside Qantas. (Former government relations executive) Andrew Parker used to get calls from Labor staffers as well about upgrades.
āIf thereās a senate inquiry and Alan Joyce goes heās going to get asked.ā
The development, as reported by News Corporation, came as Labor sought to shift the focus off the scandal engulfing Mr Albanese by pointing out flights taken by Opposition Leader Peter Dutton on billionaire Gina Rinehartās private plane.
Speaking in Perth on Thursday, Mr Dutton confirmed he had asked Mrs Rinehartās office for an option to fly to a Bali bombing memorial in Sydney while he was touring central Queensland for which there were no commercial flight options available.
āWe asked the Government for a RAAF flight. They played games, and they didnāt offer that flight,ā he said.
āAt that point, I think we had a charter estimate, which was about $40,000 to fly from Rockhampton to Sydney and then back to Mackay. I thought that was very expensive.
āThe cheaper option for the taxpayer was for my office to speak to Mrs Rinehartās office as to whether the plane might be available. That was at zero cost to the taxpayer.
āI donāt think you get as clear a statement as that from the Prime Minister. But thatās what happened.ā
Itās understood Mr Dutton had only requested the RAAF flight less than 24 hours prior.
Mr Dutton was also asked on Thursday about a photo being shared of him and journalist Jos Aston, which is believed to have been taken in Sydney in April and was leaked by Labor.
Astonās new book sparked claims about Mr Albaneseās relationship with Mr Joyce ā claiming the Prime Minister had requested 22 flight upgrades from the then airline chief, including some while transport minister.
Mr Dutton said he had known Aston for a long time.
āIāve known obviously a lot of journalists ā¦ and I caught up with Joe for lunch only a little while ago,ā Mr Dutton said.
āI do that with editors, with journalists on a regular basis. So I donāt think thereās any surprise about Joeās connectedness.
āThe government can throw all this mud and the (Prime Ministerās Office) can background journalists and the rest of it. Whatās at stake here is the Prime Ministerās integrity.ā
After poring through his records over the last five days, Mr Albanese has now denied ever contacting Mr Joyce directly.
But Mr Dutton has suggested that, in exchange for the supposed perks, Mr Albanese had acted in Qantasā best interests when he blocked Qatar Airwaysā bid for more flights into Australia last year.
Mr Albaneseās office issued a statement on Wednesday saying the PM had never called Mr Joyce for flight upgrades ā which left open the question of whether he had used other means of contact.
Itās since been claimed, via text messages to a radio announcer not an official statement from his office, Mr Albanese never texted or emailed Mr Joyce, and never had in-person conversations with him regarding flight upgrades.
Itās also been confirmed Mr Albanese never directly shared any flight or travel plans with Mr Joyce, or other senior Qantas figures including senior executive Andrew Parker ā amid reports he had handled Mr Albaneseās upgrades.
The PM has maintained all travel undertaken over his nearly 30 years in Parliament has been appropriately declared, and itās understood all upgrades have been a decision ultimately made by Qantas.
Mr Albanese has not fronted media since Tuesday, but 2GB host Ben Fordham reported the PM had said he hadnāt spoken to Mr Joyce in āa very long timeā.
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