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Anthony Albanese has tried to claim his relationship with Alan Joyce was <br> <br> a strictly professional one between a Prime Minister and a corporate titan, as he battles claims <br> <br> the Qantas boss was his 'personal travel agent' for free flights and upgrades.<br> <br> <br> <br> <br> <br> However that characterization of the relationship <br> <br> was at odds with that made by Mr Joyce, who said he was 'good mates' <br> <br> with Mr Albanese and had been 'for years'.<br> <br> <br> <br> In the wake of the explosive claims that the Prime Minister had Mr <br> <br> Joyce arrange free tickets and upgrades, Mr Albanese distanced himself from the Qantas <br> <br> chief.<br> <br> <br> <br> When asked about about their relationship on Sunday Mr Albanese <br> <br> implied it was purely in a professional capacity, having <br> <br> been Transport Minister and shadow transport spokesperson before becoming Prime Minister. <br> <br> <br> <br> 'He (Joyce) was the CEO of the national airline ...<br> <br> I had the same relationship with him that I have with John Borghetti as the CEO of Virgin,' Mr Albanese said.<br> <br> <br> <br> <br> <br> <br> <br> That assessment was at odds with the many photos showing Mr Albanese and Mr Joyce apparently greatly enjoying each other's company. <br> <br> <br> <br> Mr Albanese and Mr Joyce were pictured in high spirits on the red carpet at the Qantas 100th Gala <br> <br> Dinner in March last year.<br> <br> <br> <br> In photos from the event, Mr Joyce proudly walks <br> <br> the red carpet with one arm around the prime minister and the other around Mr Albanese's partner, Jodie Haydon.<br> <br> <br> <br> Just five months later, in August, a smiling Mr Albanese attended Qantas's unveiling of it's special 'Yes <br> <br> 23' emblazoned airplanes for the Voice referendum.<br> <br> <br> <br> <br> <br> <br> <br> <br> <br> Former Qantas CEO Alan Joyce jovially walked the red carpet with one <br> <br> arm around the prime minister and the other around his partner,<br> <br> Jodie Haydon for a special anniversary event last year<br> <br> <br> <br> Mr Joyce was seen touching Mr Albanese's arm, <br> <br> with the PM bursting into laughter.<br> <br> <br> <br> Even when Scott Morrison was PM,  Mr Joyce enjoyed an apparently close relationship with <br> <br> Mr Albanese as the pair stood close together at the launch of the Qantas' landmark Perth to London flight in March, 2018. <br> <br> <br> <br> During a Senate hearing in September 2023, Mr Joyce said he had been 'friends for years' with Mr Albanese.<br> <br> <br> <br> <br> <br> <br> <br> Asked about why he gifted Mr Albanese's son Nathan a membership to the prestigious <br> <br> and exclusive Chairman's Lounge Mr Joyce refused <br> <br> to confirm or deny but talked up his relationship with the Prime <br> <br> Minister.<br> <br> <br> <br> 'I've been good mates with Albo for some time,' Mr Joyce said. <br> <br> <br> <br> However, the then Qantas CEO refused to say whether he lobbied the Prime Minister on the controversial decision to lock competitor Qatar Airways out of domestic routes.<br> <br> <br> <br> <br> <br> <br> <br> It has since emerged in a new book about Qantas, The Chairman's Lounge, by former Australian Financial Review columnist Joe Aston that Ms Haydon is also <br> <br> a Chairman's Lounge member. <br> <br> <br> <br> <br> <br> <br> <br> <br> <br> Mr Albanese and Mr Joyce also appeared to greatly enjoying each other's company at  a Qantas event in August last year<br> <br> <br> <br> <br> <br> <br> <br> <br> <br> Read More<br> <br> <br> <br> Anthony Albanese fires up and launches a brutal personal attack on book <br> <br> author<br> <br> <br> <br> <br> <br> Reports have emerged in a new book Mr Albanese received 22 upgrades from <br> <br> economy from Qantas and he would liaise personally with <br> <br> the former airline boss for them. <br> <br> <br> <br> Aston also alleged Mr Albanese directly contacted Mr Joyce while in his various parliamentary <br> <br> jobs to ask for special upgrades for himself or his family.<br> <br> <br> <br> <br> <br> According to unnamed Qantas 'insiders' 11 of the 22 flights Mr Albanese received upgrades for were 'privately funded' and included overseas <br> <br> trips to Rome, London, Los Angeles and Honolulu, with some being for <br> <br> holidays.<br> <br> <br> <br> Mr Albanese insisted on Tuesday that the London flights <br> <br> was for work purposes and all were 'declared in the appropriate way'.    <br> <br> <br> <br> Opposition Leader Peter Dutton has leapt on the accusations describing Mr Albanese as being the 'best friend' of Mr Joyce. <br> <br> <br> <br> Mr Dutton told Sky News on Monday night it was 'strange' Mr Albanese had directly <br> <br> contacted Mr Joyce to request upgrades while holding <br> <br> a regulatory position in the transport sector.<br> <br> <br> <br> <br> <br> <br> <br> 'If you're the Transport Minister and you're picking up the phone to one of <br> <br> the most important stakeholders in the portfolio asking for a free upgrade, then again, I think <br> <br> the Prime Minister would be able to answer those questions more effectively <br> <br> than anyone else because I'm not aware of anyone else having done it,' Mr <br> <br> Dutton said.<br> <br> <br> <br> <br> <br> <br> <br> <br> <br> It has since emerged that Ms Haydon also has membership of the Qantas <br> <br> Chairman's Lounge<br> <br> <br> <br> <br> <br> <br> <br> The Prime Minister denied frequently asking Mr Joyce for <br> <br> upgrades on Tuesday at press conference in the NSW city of <br> <br> Newcastle.<br> <br> <br> <br> 'The only discussions that I can recall with Alan Joyce <br> <br> certainly were not discussed through calls - we discussed the <br> <br> first flight from Australia to Dubai on the A380,' he said.<br> <br> <br> <br> <br> <br> 'I've declared everything in accordance with all of the rules.'<br> <br> <br> <br> Aston was asked on Monday night by ABC interviewer Sarah Ferguson about how confident <br> <br> he was that Mr Albanese had made calls personally to Mr Joyce for upgrades.<br> <br> <br> <br> <br> <br> 'I am very comfortable with my sourcing,' Aston said.<br> <br> <br> <br> <br> <br> Asked whether he thought Mr Albanese had been influenced <br> <br> by Mr Joyce's lobbying to block UAE airline Qatar domestically <br> <br> Aston said it was 'implausible' to think that the Prime Minister's office had nothing to do with the decision.<br> <br> <br> <br> <br> <br> <br> <br> <br> <br> Mr Albanese's son Nathan, 24, has reportedly <br> <br> also been granted access to the Qantas Chairman's Lounge (pictured, Mr Albanese and <br> <br> son Nathan in May, 2022)<br> <br> <br> <br> 'It's very hard to imagine a decision of any political sensitivity in the Albanese government that would not go through the Prime Minister's <br> <br> office,' Aston replied.<br> <br> <br> <br> He noted the opening up of the Australian domestic market Qatar <br> <br> had seemingly been sailing through with Transport Minister Catherine <br> <br> King speaking warmly about the proposal until 'everything changed' to stop it dead in tracks. <br> <br> <br> <br>  Ms King repeatedly denied in parliament the decision to <br> <br> block Qatar was due to Qantas lobbying her or any Labor colleagues.<br> <br> <br> <br> <br> <br> Despite Mr Albanese claiming he declared every upgrade received from Qantas the <br> <br> Australian Financial Review reported on Tuesday that he failed to do for his former <br> <br> wife Carmel Tebbutt when the two traveled together.<br> <br> <br> <br> <br> <br> <br> <br> <br> <br> Opposition Leader Peter Dutton has  questioned the alleged personal requests Mr <br> <br> Albanese made to Mr Joyce  while in his various parliamentary <br> <br> jobs<br> <br> <br> <br> <br> <br> <br> <br> <br> <br> <br> <br> Even when Scott Morrison was prime minister, Mr Joyce appeared to <br> <br> have a close relationship with Mr Albanese (the pair are <br> <br> pictured at an event in 2019)<br> <br> <br> <br> Sky New host Sharri Markson on Monday night labeled Mr Joyce as 'basically Albanese's personal travel <br> <br> agent.'<br> <br> <br> <br> 'This is all a question of integrity. Most Australians struggle to afford even an economy <br> <br> airfare. They'd never be able to afford the luxury <br> <br> of business class. It's out of our reach,' she said.<br> <br> <br> <br> 'Can Albanese truly be impartial when it comes to making decisions <br> <br> about Qantas when he's been getting tens of thousands of dollars worth <br> <br> of free upgrades to business class? The revelations puts the decision he made as transport minister and prime minister under a cloud.<br> <br> <br> <br> <br> <br> 'Aside from the integrity issues, this revelation is also <br> <br> politically lethal. Albanese took care to curate a self-image of <br> <br> a housing commission boy who made it. But now the perception is cementing of a long-term pollie enjoying <br> <br> the perks of public office.'<br> <br> <br> <br> Another awkward paradox of Mr Albanese's  apparent close <br> <br> relationship with Mr Joyce is that the Labor <br> <br> leader in a trade unionist advocate while Qantas attempted to break the power of the Transport Workers Union by sacking 1700 staff during Covid. <br> <br> <br> <br> The sacking has since been ruled illegal by Federal Court in a case <br> <br> brought by the union with Qantas facing possible hundreds of thousands in compensation payouts. <br> <br> <br> <br> The friendship however did find one perhaps unlikely defender in semi-retired 3AW radio star Neil Mitchell. <br> <br> <br> <br> 'Quick test: upgrade Albo is a bad look,' Mitchell <br> <br> wrote on X.<br> <br> <br> <br> 'But does anybody believe he was seriously compromised by having Alan Joyce as a bestie?<br> <br> Time to rewrite rules governing politicians.' <br> <br> <br> <br> WHAT IS THE QANTAS CHAIRMAN'S CLUB?<br> <br> <br> <br> The Qantas Chairman's Lounge is an invitation-only club approved by the company chairman, <br> <br> with the guest list a closely-guarded secret.<br> <br> <br> <br> It has been dubbed ¿the most exclusive club in the country¿ <br> <br> and comes with a distinct black card.<br> <br> <br> <br> Members include senior-ranking MPs including ministers, state premiers and <br> <br> the Prime Minister, leaders of major unions and sporting <br> <br> groups, Qantas ambassadors, selected A-list celebrities, major corporate figures and high-profile media personalities.<br> <br> <br> <br> <br> <br> The clubs can be found in Sydney, Melbourne, Canberra,<br> <br> Brisbane, Perth and Adelaide but are not signed, you have to know where to look.<br> <br> <br> <br> <br> <br> Inside you will find expensive wood and brass furnishings, <br> <br> wool carpet and marble flooring all bathed in natural light. <br> <br> <br> <br> Members enjoy fine à la carte dining with a complimentary <br> <br> premium array of beers, spirits and Australian wines.<br> <br> Wine bottles are often given as departing gift<br> <br> <br> <br> Facilities may also include spas, showers and an assortment of books and magazines.<br> <br> <br> <br> <br> <br> Members may bring in two guests at a time. <br> <br> <br> <br> Lounge attendants personally alert you when your flight is to board and your personal <br> <br> preferences are logged for each flight. Membership also entitles you to first-class facilities at <br> <br> Qantas partner airlines.<br> <br> <br> <br> free upgrades where they are available and a hotline to Qantas's customer service for any and <br> <br> all travel needs. <br> <br> <br> <br> Source: Executive Traveller<br> <br> <br> <br>  <br> <br> <br> <br>  <br> <br> <br> <br>  <br> <br> <br> <br> <br> <br> <br> <br> LondonAnthony AlbaneseQantas<br> <br> <br> <br> Feel free to surf to my blog :: discuss - https://freebookmarkstore.win/story.php?title=%E0%B9%80%E0%B8%A3%E0%B8%B5%E0%B8%A2%E0%B8%87%E0%B8%A3%E0%B9%89%E0%B8%AD%E0%B8%A2%E0%B8%94%E0%B8%AD%E0%B8%81%E0%B9%84%E0%B8%A1%E0%B9%89%E0%B9%80%E0%B8%9E%E0%B8%B7%E0%B9%88%E0%B8%AD%E0%B8%99%E0%B8%B1%E0%B8%81%E0%B8%88%E0%B8%B2%E0%B8%81-%E0%B9%80%E0%B8%84%E0%B8%A5%E0%B9%87%E0%B8%94%E0%B8%A5%E0%B8%B1%E0%B8%9A%E0%B8%81%E0%B8%B2%E0%B8%A3%E0%B8%88%E0%B8%B1%E0%B8%94%E0%B8%94%E0%B8%AD%E0%B8%81%E0%B9%84%E0%B8%A1%E0%B9%89%E0%B8%87%E0%B8%B2%E0%B8%99%E0%B8%A8%E0%B8%9E%E0%B8%97%E0%B8%B5%E0%B9%88%E0%B9%80%E0%B8%82%E0%B9%89%E0%B8%B2%E0%B9%83%E0%B8%88%E0%B8%87%E0%B9%88%E0%B8%B2%E0%B8%A2
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