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Anthony Albanese has tried to claim his <br> <br> 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 <br> <br> upgrades.<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' with Mr <br> <br> Albanese and had been 'for years'.<br> <br> <br> <br> In the wake of the explosive claims that the Prime Minister had <br> <br> Mr 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 implied it was purely in a professional <br> <br> 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 ... 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 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 red carpet at the Qantas 100th Gala Dinner in March last year.<br> <br> <br> <br> <br> <br> <br> <br> In photos from the event, Mr Joyce proudly walks the <br> <br> red carpet with one 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 <br> <br> of 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 with one arm around the prime minister <br> <br> and the other around his partner, Jodie Haydon for a special anniversary event last year<br> <br> <br> <br> <b>Mr Joyce was seen touching Mr Albanese's arm, with the PM bursting into laughter.</b><br> <br> <br> <br> Even when Scott Morrison was PM,  Mr Joyce enjoyed an apparently close relationship <br> <br> with Mr Albanese as the pair stood close together <br> <br> at the launch of the Qantas' landmark Perth to London flight <br> <br> in March, 2018. <br> <br> <br> <br> During a Senate hearing in September 2023, Mr Joyce said he had been 'friends for years' with <br> <br> Mr 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 <br> <br> to confirm or deny but talked up his relationship with the Prime Minister.<br> <br> <br> <br> <br> <br> <i><u>'I've been good mates with Albo for some time,' Mr Joyce said. </u></i><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 <br> <br> of domestic routes.<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 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><u>Anthony Albanese fires up and launches a brutal personal attack on book author</u></b><br> <br> <br> <br> <br> <br> Reports have emerged in a new book Mr Albanese <br> <br> received 22 upgrades from economy from Qantas and <br> <br> he would liaise personally with the former airline boss for them. <br> <br> <br> <br> Aston also alleged Mr Albanese directly contacted Mr Joyce while <br> <br> in his various parliamentary 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 <br> <br> for were 'privately funded' and included overseas trips to Rome, London, Los Angeles and Honolulu, <br> <br> with some being for holidays.<br> <br> <br> <br> Mr Albanese insisted on Tuesday that the London flights was for <br> <br> work purposes and all were 'declared in the appropriate <br> <br> way'.    <br> <br> <br> <br> Opposition Leader Peter Dutton has leapt on the accusations describing Mr Albanese as <br> <br> being the 'best friend' of Mr Joyce. <br> <br> <br> <br> Mr Dutton told Sky News on Monday night it was 'strange' Mr <br> <br> Albanese had directly contacted Mr Joyce 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 <br> <br> picking up the phone to 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 else having done it,' Mr Dutton said.<br> <br> <br> <br> <br> <br> <br> <br> <br> <br> <br> <br> <b>It has since emerged that Ms Haydon also has membership <br> <br> of the Qantas Chairman's Lounge</b><br> <br> <br> <br> <br> <br> <br> <br> The Prime Minister denied frequently asking <br> <br> 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 <br> <br> Alan Joyce certainly were not discussed through calls - we discussed <br> <br> the first flight from Australia to Dubai on the A380,' he said.<br> <br> <br> <br> <br> <br> <strong>'I've declared everything in accordance with all of the rules.'</strong><br> <br> <br> <br> Aston was asked on Monday night by ABC interviewer Sarah Ferguson about how confident he was that <br> <br> Mr Albanese had made calls personally to Mr Joyce for upgrades.<br> <br> <br> <br> <br> <br> <b>'I am very comfortable with my sourcing,' Aston said.</b><br> <br> <br> <br> Asked whether he thought Mr Albanese had been influenced by <br> <br> Mr Joyce's lobbying to block UAE airline Qatar domestically Aston said it was 'implausible' to think that the Prime Minister's office <br> <br> 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 political sensitivity <br> <br> in the Albanese 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 <br> <br> market Qatar had seemingly been sailing through with Transport Minister <br> <br> Catherine King speaking warmly about the proposal until 'everything changed' <br> <br> to stop it dead in tracks. <br> <br> <br> <br>  Ms King repeatedly denied in parliament the <br> <br> decision to block Qatar was due to Qantas lobbying her or any Labor colleagues.<br> <br> <br> <br> <br> <br> <br> <br> Despite Mr Albanese claiming he declared every upgrade 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 together.<br> <br> <br> <br> <br> <br> <br> <br> <br> <br> <br> <br> <br> <br> Opposition Leader Peter Dutton has  questioned the alleged personal requests Mr Albanese <br> <br> 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 <br> <br> 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 <br> <br> afford even an economy airfare. They'd never be able to afford <br> <br> the luxury of business class. It's out of our reach,' she <br> <br> said.<br> <br> <br> <br> 'Can Albanese truly be impartial when it comes to making decisions about Qantas when he's <br> <br> 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 <br> <br> minister and prime minister under a cloud.<br> <br> <br> <br> 'Aside from the integrity issues, this revelation is also politically lethal.<br> <br> <br> <br> Albanese took care to curate a self-image of a housing commission boy who made <br> <br> it. But now the perception is cementing of a long-term pollie enjoying the perks of public office.'<br> <br> <br> <br> Another awkward paradox of Mr Albanese's  apparent close relationship with Mr <br> <br> Joyce is that the Labor leader in a trade unionist advocate while Qantas attempted to break <br> <br> 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 brought <br> <br> by the union with Qantas facing possible hundreds of thousands <br> <br> 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> <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 by having Alan Joyce as a bestie?<br> <br> 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 <br> <br> company chairman, with the guest list a closely-guarded secret.<br> <br> <br> <br> <br> <br> <br> <br> It has been dubbed ¿the most exclusive club in the country¿ and comes with a distinct black card.<br> <br> <br> <br> <br> <br> Members include senior-ranking MPs including ministers, state premiers and the <br> <br> Prime Minister, leaders 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, <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, wool carpet <br> <br> 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 <br> <br> beers, spirits and Australian wines. Wine bottles <br> <br> are often given as departing gift<br> <br> <br> <br> <b>Facilities may also include spas, showers <br> <br> and an assortment of books and magazines.</b><br> <br> <br> <br> <b>Members may bring in two guests at a time. </b><br> <br> <br> <br> Lounge attendants personally alert you when your flight is to board and your personal preferences are logged for each flight.<br> <br> 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 customer service for any and all <br> <br> travel needs. <br> <br> <br> <br> <u><i>Source: Executive Traveller</i></u><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> Also visit my blog post: <a href="https://Bleezlabs.com/demo/quora/adonis/index.php?qa=471211&qa_1=being-a-star-in-your-business-is-a-matter-of-discuss">จัดดอกไม้สดแนวนอน</a>
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