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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 <br> <br> titan, as he battles claims 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 Mr 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 Prime Minister had Mr <br> <br> Joyce arrange free tickets and upgrades, Mr Albanese distanced himself from the <br> <br> 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 <br> <br> Minister and shadow transport spokesperson before becoming <br> <br> Prime Minister. <br> <br> <br> <br> 'He (Joyce) was the CEO of the national airline ...<br> <br> <br> <br> I had the same relationship with him that I have with John Borghetti as <br> <br> the CEO of Virgin,' Mr Albanese said.<br> <br> <br> <br> That assessment was at odds with the many photos showing Mr <br> <br> Albanese and Mr Joyce apparently greatly enjoying each other's <br> <br> 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 one <br> <br> arm around the prime minister and the other around Mr Albanese's partner,<br> <br> Jodie Haydon.<br> <br> <br> <br> Just five months later, in August, a smiling Mr Albanese attended Qantas's unveiling of <br> <br> it's special '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 <br> <br> with one arm around the prime minister and the other around his <br> <br> partner, Jodie Haydon for a special anniversary event last <br> <br> year<br> <br> <br> <br> <strong>Mr Joyce was seen touching Mr Albanese's arm, with the PM bursting into <br> <br> laughter.</strong><br> <br> <br> <br> Even when Scott Morrison was PM,  Mr Joyce enjoyed an apparently 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 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 to the prestigious and <br> <br> exclusive Chairman's Lounge Mr Joyce refused to confirm or deny but talked up his relationship with the <br> <br> Prime Minister.<br> <br> <br> <br> <strong>'I've been good mates with Albo for some time,' Mr Joyce <br> <br> said. </strong><br> <br> <br> <br> However, the then Qantas CEO refused to say whether he lobbied the Prime Minister on the controversial decision to lock <br> <br> 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,<br> <br> by former Australian Financial Review columnist Joe Aston that Ms Haydon is <br> <br> 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 enjoying each other's company at  a Qantas <br> <br> event in August last year<br> <br> <br> <br> <br> <br> <br> <br> <br> <br> Read More<br> <br> <br> <br> <b>Anthony Albanese fires up and launches a brutal personal attack on book author</b><br> <br> <br> <br> <br> <br> Reports have emerged in a new book Mr Albanese received 22 upgrades <br> <br> from economy from Qantas and he would liaise personally with the former airline boss <br> <br> for them. <br> <br> <br> <br> Aston also alleged Mr Albanese directly contacted Mr Joyce while in his various parliamentary jobs to <br> <br> ask for special upgrades for himself or his <br> <br> family.<br> <br> <br> <br> According to unnamed Qantas 'insiders' 11 of the 22 flights <br> <br> Mr Albanese received upgrades for were 'privately <br> <br> funded' and included overseas trips to Rome, London, Los Angeles and <br> <br> Honolulu, with some being for holidays.<br> <br> <br> <br> Mr Albanese insisted on Tuesday that the London flights was for work purposes and all were <br> <br> 'declared in the appropriate way'.    <br> <br> <br> <br> Opposition Leader Peter Dutton has leapt on the accusations describing Mr Albanese <br> <br> 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 <br> <br> had directly contacted Mr Joyce to request upgrades while holding a regulatory position in the <br> <br> transport sector.<br> <br> <br> <br> 'If you're the Transport Minister and you're picking up the phone to <br> <br> one of the most important stakeholders in the portfolio <br> <br> asking for a free upgrade, 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 <br> <br> else having done it,' Mr Dutton said.<br> <br> <br> <br> <br> <br> <br> <br> <br> <br> <b>It has since emerged that Ms Haydon also has membership of the Qantas <br> <br> Chairman's Lounge</b><br> <br> <br> <br> <br> <br> <br> <br> The Prime Minister denied frequently asking Mr Joyce for upgrades <br> <br> 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 <br> <br> discussed through calls - we discussed the first flight from Australia to Dubai on the A380,' he said.<br> <br> <br> <br> <br> <br> <strong><u>'I've declared everything in accordance with all of the rules.'</u></strong><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 <br> <br> to Mr Joyce for upgrades.<br> <br> <br> <br> <u>'I am very comfortable with my sourcing,' Aston said.</u><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 <br> <br> Aston said it was 'implausible' to think that the Prime Minister's <br> <br> 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 and son Nathan in May, 2022)<br> <br> <br> <br> 'It's very hard to imagine a decision of any <br> <br> political sensitivity in the Albanese government that would not go through the Prime Minister's office,' Aston replied.<br> <br> <br> <br> <br> <br> He noted the opening up of the Australian domestic market Qatar had seemingly been sailing through with Transport <br> <br> Minister Catherine King speaking warmly about the proposal until 'everything changed' to stop <br> <br> 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 <br> <br> received from Qantas the Australian Financial Review reported on Tuesday <br> <br> that he failed to do for his former wife Carmel Tebbutt when the two traveled <br> <br> 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 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 <br> <br> 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 <br> <br> afford even an economy airfare. They'd never be able to afford the <br> <br> luxury 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 business class?<br> <br> 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 also politically <br> <br> lethal. Albanese took care to curate 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 perks <br> <br> of public office.'<br> <br> <br> <br> Another awkward paradox of Mr Albanese's  apparent <br> <br> close relationship with Mr Joyce is that the Labor leader in a trade <br> <br> unionist advocate while Qantas attempted to break the power of the Transport Workers Union by <br> <br> sacking 1700 staff during Covid. <br> <br> <br> <br> The sacking has since been ruled illegal by Federal Court in a case brought by the union with Qantas facing possible hundreds of <br> <br> 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> <b><u>'Quick test: upgrade Albo is a bad look,' Mitchell wrote on X.</u></b><br> <br> <br> <br> 'But does anybody believe he was seriously compromised <br> <br> by having Alan Joyce as a bestie? Time to rewrite rules governing politicians.' <br> <br> <br> <br> <strong>WHAT IS THE QANTAS CHAIRMAN'S CLUB?</strong><br> <br> <br> <br> The Qantas Chairman's Lounge is an invitation-only club approved by the company chairman, with the guest <br> <br> 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, <br> <br> state premiers and the Prime Minister, leaders <br> <br> of major unions and sporting 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, Brisbane,<br> <br> 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, 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, spirits and Australian wines.<br> <br> <a href="https://maps.google.ae/url?q=http://budtrader.com/arcade/members/cyclehill7/activity/3606198/">ขาย wine</a> bottles are often given as departing gift<br> <br> <br> <br> <b>Facilities may also include spas, showers and an assortment of books and <br> <br> magazines.</b><br> <br> <br> <br> <u><i>Members may bring in two guests at a time. </i></u><br> <br> <br> <br> Lounge attendants personally alert you when your flight is to <br> <br> board and your personal preferences are logged for each flight.<br> <br> 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 Qantas's <br> <br> customer service for any and all travel needs. <br> <br> <br> <br> <u><strong>Source: Executive Traveller</strong></u><br> <br> <br> <br>  <br> <br> <br> <br>  <br> <br> <br> <br>  <br> <br> <br> <br> <br> <br> <br> <br> LondonAnthony AlbaneseQantas
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