Qantas insiders told Aston that Albanese would liaise with former Qantas chief executive Alan Joyce directly about his personal travel, highlighting the close relationship between Albanese and the former airline boss.
Albanese, who returned from the Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting in Samoa late on Saturday night, said he had the same relationship with Joyce as he had with John Borghetti, the former chief executive of Qantas’ main rival, Virgin Australia.
Prime Minister Anthony Albanese said he had appropriately declared all travel upgrades from Qantas.Credit: Nine
Albanese said his son, Nathan, received access to Qantas’ exclusive Chairman’s Lounge when he and former wife Carmel Tebbutt separated.
“I put out a media release when my marriage ended; you can’t be more transparent than that,” he said.
“My plus one became my son.”
The influence of Qantas came to the fore last year when the government blocked a request by Qatar Airways to expand its flights from Australia, a move that financially benefited Qantas and partner airline Emirates.
Opposition transport spokeswoman Bridget McKenzie said it was outrageous that Qantas received 80 per cent of federal taxpayer-funded travel even though it commands only a 63 per cent share of the domestic market.
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Speaking from her own experience booking taxpayer-funded flights, McKenzie said politicians were routinely only offered Qantas flights by the government’s travel procurement service, even though it has a policy of purchasing the “lowest practical fare” and Qantas flights are on average $280 higher than its rivals.
The imbalance is a “huge problem” and a “waste of taxpayer money”, McKenzie said.
“It is in the national interest for there to be a competitive aviation sector, and that means the public sector spend should be pro-competitive, not pro one big airline,” she said.
McKenzie said she had no intention of giving up her Chairman’s Lounge membership as it had not prevented her from regularly criticising Qantas for its flight credit policy, flight cancellations and delays.
The vast majority of federal politicians are members of the invitation-only Chairman’s Lounge but some, including Labor Senator Tony Sheldon, some teal independents and several Greens MPs have declined membership.
Transport Minister Catherine King committed to a review of government travel bookings by the end of the year by the Finance Department as part of the government’s aviation white paper process in August.
