Australia’s Prime Minister is facing attacks regarding his relationship with national carrier Qantas, including that in the past he’d reportedly phone up Qantas’ CEO to get his personal flights upgraded. However, his defense is that this has been disclosed, and that everyone does it…
Anthony Albanese reportedly called Alan Joyce for upgrades
A book has just been published in Australia by Joe Aston, with the name “The Chairman’s Lounge,” described as “the inside story of how Qantas sold us out.” Qantas’ reputation has tanked in Australia in recent years, including former Qantas CEO Alan Joyce being forced to retire early due to the situation.
For context, the book’s name refers to the exclusive Chairman’s Lounge that Qantas has for top politicians and CEOs, which is only accessible by invitation.
According to the book, Australia’s current Prime Minister, Anthony Albanese, has received at least 22 free Qantas upgrades from economy class, including some for his family and personal travel. The book claims that Albanese would liaise directly with Joyce for these upgrades. It’s claimed that the requests for these upgrades date back several years, including to when Albanese had the role of Transport Minister.
Albanese’s defense is that he had disclosed all of these upgrades. His colleagues who support him point out how so many politicians receive free upgrades and a Chairman’s Lounge invitation, and also that Labor made many decisions about wages and workplace relations that were opposed to Qantas, showing that Albanese didn’t help the company in exchange for flight upgrades.
Meanwhile his opponents are demanding an investigation, arguing that him potentially requesting upgrades directly from the CEO goes a step too far. The federal Coalition has signaled that it may call Joyce to a senate inquiry, to reveal any personal requests that he received from Albanese.
Does the Australian public not take issue with this?
I’ll admit, I don’t really have my finger on the pulse of Australian politics, but I’ll never be able to understood the gifts that Australian politicians can receive from corporations, without the public seemingly batting an eyelid.
As mentioned above, in Australia many politicians receive a Chairman’s Lounge invitation, reserved exclusively for politicians and top business leaders. If you ask me, this is screwed up on a couple of levels:
- Airlines shouldn’t be able to provide gifts to politicians
- It seems a bit backwards to create a space specifically for politicians and business executives; politicians should be serving the people, not corporations
Most politicians in Australia who oppose Albanese seem to be arguing that the issue isn’t that the (at the time) transport minister was getting free upgrades, because so many politicians get those, but rather that he was asking for them directly from the CEO.
Am I the only one who feels like we’re splitting hairs here? How about we see an Australian politician actually fight for the people, and make it so that politicians don’t get access to a special lounge, and where it is an issue when politicians get free upgrades? This isn’t how it should be, in my opinion.
To what extent did these factors influence the relationship between politicians and Qantas? I mean, it’s hard to say, though if you ask me, the Australian government has tried to block foreign competitors of Qantas, all while letting the airline operate in a way that simply isn’t in the best interest of the traveling public.
Could you imagine if in the United States all politicians received access to a super exclusive airline lounge not open to the public, and they could just phone up their buddies at the airline for free upgrades? You’d have to be on the Supreme Court to get away with that!
Lastly, I think it’s worth pointing out that some people may be reminded of the story we recently had in the United States, involving New York City Mayor Eric Adams being indicted for accepting free (or heavily discounted) flights and upgrades on Turkish Airlines. That was different and way worse for two reasons:
- He wasn’t disclosing that he was receiving these upgrades
- He was essentially accepting favors from a foreign government
Bottom line
Australia’s Prime Minister is facing scrutiny over the free upgrades he received on Qantas. The bizarre part (to me) is that the issue isn’t that he was getting free upgrades — lots of Australian politicians reportedly get those — but rather that he was asking the CEO for them directly.
Even though Australia generally isn’t a very corrupt country, politicians are able to receive all kinds of gifts from corporations while in office, ranging from upgrades to access to an exclusive lounge.
If an Australian politician wants to score bonus points here, they shouldn’t be fighting to hold Albanese accountable for the way in which he requested the upgrade, but rather they should be fighting to reform for the ways in which politicians can receive gifts. At least that’s my two cents.
What do you make of this Qantas upgrade scandal?
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