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Anthony Albanese has tried to claim his relationship with <br> <br> Alan Joyce was a strictly professional one between a Prime <br> <br> Minister and a corporate titan, as he battles claims the Qantas boss was his <br> <br> 'personal travel agent' for free flights and upgrades.<br> <br> <br> <br> <br> <br> However that characterization of the relationship was at odds with that made by Mr <br> <br> Joyce, who said he was 'good mates' with Mr Albanese and had been 'for years'.<br> <br> <br> <br> <br> <br> In the wake of the explosive claims that the <br> <br> Prime Minister had Mr Joyce arrange free tickets and upgrades, Mr Albanese distanced <br> <br> himself from the Qantas 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 been Transport Minister <br> <br> 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 <br> <br> Virgin,' Mr Albanese said.<br> <br> <br> <br> That assessment was at odds with the many photos showing Mr Albanese and Mr Joyce apparently <br> <br> greatly enjoying each other's company. <br> <br> <br> <br> Mr Albanese and Mr Joyce were pictured in high spirits on the <br> <br> red carpet at the Qantas 100th Gala Dinner in March last <br> <br> 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 <br> <br> Mr Albanese's partner, Jodie Haydon.<br> <br> <br> <br> Just five months later, in August, a smiling Mr Albanese attended <br> <br> Qantas's unveiling of it's special 'Yes 23' emblazoned airplanes <br> <br> for the Voice referendum.<br> <br> <br> <br> <br> <br> <br> <br> <br> <br> Former Qantas CEO Alan Joyce jovially walked the red carpet <br> <br> with one 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, with the PM bursting into laughter.<br> <br> <br> <br> <br> <br> Even when Scott Morrison was PM,  Mr Joyce enjoyed an apparently <br> <br> close relationship with 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,<br> <br> Mr Joyce said he had been 'friends for years' with Mr <br> <br> Albanese.<br> <br> <br> <br> Asked about why he gifted Mr Albanese's son Nathan a membership <br> <br> to the prestigious and exclusive Chairman's Lounge Mr <br> <br> Joyce refused to confirm or deny but talked up his relationship with the Prime Minister.<br> <br> <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 <br> <br> decision to lock competitor Qatar Airways out of domestic routes.<br> <br> <br> <br> <br> <br> It has since emerged in a new book about Qantas, The Chairman's Lounge, by former <br> <br> Australian Financial Review columnist Joe Aston that Ms Haydon is also a Chairman's <br> <br> 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 author<br> <br> <br> <br> <br> <br> Reports have emerged in a new book Mr Albanese received 22 upgrades from economy <br> <br> from Qantas and he would liaise personally with the former airline boss for <br> <br> them. <br> <br> <br> <br> Aston also alleged Mr Albanese directly contacted Mr Joyce while in his various parliamentary jobs to ask for special upgrades for <br> <br> himself or his family.<br> <br> <br> <br> According to unnamed Qantas 'insiders' 11 of the 22 flights Mr <br> <br> Albanese received upgrades for were 'privately funded' <br> <br> and included overseas trips to Rome, London, Los Angeles and Honolulu, with some being for holidays.<br> <br> <br> <br> <br> <br> Mr Albanese insisted on Tuesday that the London flights was for work <br> <br> purposes and all were 'declared in the appropriate way'.    <br> <br> <br> <br> Opposition Leader Peter Dutton has leapt on the accusations <br> <br> 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 contacted Mr Joyce to request <br> <br> upgrades while holding a regulatory position in the transport sector.<br> <br> <br> <br> <br> <br> 'If you're the Transport Minister and you're picking up the phone to one of the <br> <br> most important stakeholders in the portfolio asking for a free upgrade, then again, I think the Prime Minister would be able <br> <br> to answer those questions more effectively than anyone else because I'm not aware of anyone else having done it,' Mr Dutton said.<br> <br> <br> <br> <br> <br> <br> <br> <br> <br> <br> <br> It has since emerged that Ms Haydon also has membership of the Qantas Chairman's <br> <br> Lounge<br> <br> <br> <br> <br> <br> <br> <br> The Prime Minister denied frequently asking Mr Joyce for upgrades on Tuesday at press conference in the NSW city of Newcastle.<br> <br> <br> <br> <br> <br> 'The only discussions that I can recall with Alan Joyce certainly were not discussed <br> <br> through calls - we discussed the 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 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> Asked whether he thought Mr Albanese had been influenced by Mr <br> <br> Joyce's lobbying to block UAE airline Qatar domestically Aston said <br> <br> it was 'implausible' to think that the Prime Minister's office had nothing to do with <br> <br> the decision.<br> <br> <br> <br> <br> <br> <br> <br> <br> <br> Mr Albanese's son Nathan, 24, has reportedly also been granted access to the Qantas Chairman's Lounge (pictured, <br> <br> Mr Albanese and son Nathan in May, 2022)<br> <br> <br> <br> 'It's very hard to imagine a decision of any political sensitivity <br> <br> in the Albanese government that would not go through the Prime <br> <br> Minister's office,' Aston replied.<br> <br> <br> <br> He noted the opening up of the Australian domestic market Qatar had seemingly been sailing through with <br> <br> Transport Minister Catherine 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 block Qatar was due to Qantas <br> <br> lobbying her or any Labor colleagues.<br> <br> <br> <br> Despite Mr Albanese claiming he declared every upgrade received from Qantas the Australian Financial Review reported on Tuesday that he <br> <br> failed to do for his former wife Carmel Tebbutt when the two traveled together.<br> <br> <br> <br> <br> <br> <br> <br> <br> <br> <br> <br> Opposition Leader Peter Dutton has  questioned the alleged personal <br> <br> requests Mr Albanese made to Mr Joyce  while in his various parliamentary jobs<br> <br> <br> <br> <br> <br> <br> <br> <br> <br> <br> <br> Even when Scott Morrison was prime minister, Mr Joyce appeared to have a close relationship with Mr Albanese (the pair are 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 agent.'<br> <br> <br> <br> 'This is all a question of integrity. Most Australians struggle to afford even an economy airfare.<br> <br> They'd never be able to afford the luxury of business class.<br> <br> It's out of our reach,' she said.<br> <br> <br> <br> 'Can Albanese truly be impartial when it comes <br> <br> to making decisions about Qantas when he's been getting tens of thousands of dollars worth of free upgrades to business <br> <br> class? The revelations puts the decision he made as transport minister and prime minister <br> <br> under a cloud.<br> <br> <br> <br> 'Aside from the integrity issues, this revelation is <br> <br> also politically lethal. Albanese took care to curate <br> <br> a self-image of a housing commission boy who made it.<br> <br> But now the perception is cementing of a long-term pollie enjoying the <br> <br> perks of public office.'<br> <br> <br> <br> Another awkward paradox of Mr Albanese's  apparent close relationship with Mr Joyce is that the Labor leader in a trade unionist advocate while Qantas <br> <br> attempted to break the power of the Transport Workers Union by sacking 1700 staff <br> <br> 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 wrote on X.<br> <br> <br> <br> <br> <br> 'But does anybody believe he was seriously compromised by <br> <br> having Alan Joyce as a bestie? Time to rewrite rules <br> <br> 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 <br> <br> the company chairman, with the guest list a closely-guarded secret.<br> <br> <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 the Prime <br> <br> Minister, leaders of major unions and sporting groups, Qantas ambassadors, selected <br> <br> 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, Brisbane, Perth and Adelaide but <br> <br> are not signed, you have to know where to look.<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 premium array of beers, <br> <br> spirits and Australian wines. Wine bottles are often given as departing gift<br> <br> <br> <br> Facilities may also include spas, showers and <br> <br> an assortment of books and magazines.<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 preferences <br> <br> are logged for each flight. Membership also entitles you to first-class facilities at Qantas partner airlines.<br> <br> <br> <br> <br> <br> free upgrades where they are available and a hotline to <br> <br> Qantas's customer service for any and all travel <br> <br> 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> Check out my web site ... ขายไวน์ - http://www.linkagogo.com/go/To?url=115786859
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