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Anthony Albanese has tried to claim his relationship with Alan Joyce was 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 was at odds with that made by <br> <br> Mr Joyce, who said he was 'good mates' with Mr Albanese and had been 'for years'.<br> <br> <br> <br> <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 <br> <br> from the Qantas chief.<br> <br> <br> <br> When asked about about their relationship on Sunday Mr Albanese implied it was purely in a professional capacity, having been Transport Minister and shadow transport spokesperson before <br> <br> 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 <br> <br> I have with John Borghetti as the CEO of Virgin,' Mr <br> <br> Albanese said.<br> <br> <br> <br> That assessment was at odds with the many photos showing Mr Albanese <br> <br> 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 Dinner in March last year.<br> <br> <br> <br> <br> <br> In photos from the event, Mr Joyce proudly walks the red carpet with <br> <br> 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 <br> <br> 'Yes 23' emblazoned airplanes for the Voice referendum.<br> <br> <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, 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 <br> <br> close relationship with Mr Albanese as the pair stood close together at the launch of <br> <br> the Qantas' landmark Perth to London flight in March, 2018. <br> <br> <br> <br> During a Senate hearing in September 2023, Mr Joyce said <br> <br> he had been 'friends for years' with Mr Albanese.<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 to confirm or deny but talked up his <br> <br> relationship with the Prime 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> It has since emerged in a new book about Qantas, The Chairman's Lounge, by <br> <br> former Australian Financial Review columnist Joe Aston that Ms Haydon is also a Chairman's Lounge member. <br> <br> <br> <br> <br> <br> <br> <br> <br> <br> Mr Albanese and Mr Joyce also appeared to greatly <br> <br> 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 <br> <br> economy from Qantas and he would liaise personally with the former airline boss for them. <br> <br> <br> <br> Aston also alleged Mr Albanese directly contacted Mr Joyce <br> <br> while in his various parliamentary jobs to ask for special upgrades for himself or his family.<br> <br> <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 trips <br> <br> 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 <br> <br> 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 <br> <br> 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 <br> <br> to request 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 <br> <br> up the phone to one of the most important stakeholders in the portfolio asking for a free upgrade,<br> <br> then again, I think the Prime Minister would be able 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 Lounge<br> <br> <br> <br> <br> <br> <br> <br> The Prime Minister denied frequently asking Mr <br> <br> 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 <br> <br> certainly were not discussed through calls - we discussed the first <br> <br> flight from Australia to Dubai on the A380,' he said.<br> <br> <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 <br> <br> Mr Joyce for upgrades.<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 by Mr 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 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, Mr Albanese <br> <br> and son Nathan in May, 2022)<br> <br> <br> <br> 'It's very hard to imagine a decision of any political sensitivity in the Albanese <br> <br> government that would not go through the Prime Minister's office,' Aston replied.<br> <br> <br> <br> <br> <br> <br> <br> He noted the opening up of the Australian domestic market Qatar had seemingly been sailing through with Transport Minister Catherine King <br> <br> speaking warmly about the proposal until 'everything changed' to stop it <br> <br> dead in tracks. <br> <br> <br> <br>  Ms King repeatedly denied in parliament the decision to block Qatar was due to Qantas lobbying her or any <br> <br> Labor colleagues.<br> <br> <br> <br> Despite Mr Albanese claiming he declared every upgrade <br> <br> received from Qantas the Australian Financial Review reported on Tuesday that he 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 <br> <br> 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 <br> <br> travel agent.'<br> <br> <br> <br> 'This is all a question of integrity. Most <br> <br> Australians struggle to afford even an economy airfare.<br> <br> 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> <br> <br> 'Can Albanese truly be impartial when it comes to making decisions about Qantas when he's been getting tens of <br> <br> thousands of dollars worth of free upgrades to <br> <br> 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 a housing commission boy who made it.<br> <br> <br> <br> But now the perception is cementing of a long-term pollie <br> <br> enjoying the 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 <br> <br> Qantas attempted to break the power of the Transport Workers Union by sacking <br> <br> 1700 staff during Covid. <br> <br> <br> <br> The sacking has since been ruled illegal by Federal Court in a case brought by <br> <br> 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 <br> <br> 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 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 <br> <br> approved by 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¿ and comes <br> <br> with a distinct black card.<br> <br> <br> <br> Members include senior-ranking MPs including ministers, state premiers and the Prime Minister,<br> <br> leaders of major unions and sporting groups, Qantas ambassadors, <br> <br> selected A-list celebrities, major corporate figures <br> <br> and high-profile media personalities.<br> <br> <br> <br> The clubs can be found in Sydney, Melbourne, Canberra, Brisbane, Perth and Adelaide but are not <br> <br> signed, you have to know where to look.<br> <br> <br> <br> Inside you will find expensive wood and brass furnishings, wool carpet and <br> <br> 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 <br> <br> your personal preferences are logged for each flight. Membership also entitles you to first-class facilities at Qantas <br> <br> partner airlines.<br> <br> <br> <br> free upgrades where they are available and a hotline to Qantas's <br> <br> customer service for any and 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> Look into my page ไวน์ - https://ask.godotengine.org/user/cdfamily69
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