The existence of an exclusive hideaway for the country's movers and shakers where secret deals were done in private <br>
<br>
luxury first exploded into the public eye <br>
<br>
back in 2007.<br>
<br>
<br>
<br>
Back then, the fact that Qantas spent hundreds of thousands of dollars wining and dining the nation's political elite in ultra-exclusive VIP lounges was relatively unknown.<br>
<br>
<br>
<br>
It was a time before Alan Joyce's tenure as the CEO of Qantas had even started, when he was <br>
<br>
boss of the comparatively lowly budget airline, Jetstar.<br>
<br>
<br>
<br>
<br>
<br>
And unlike Anthony Albanese's current slide in the polls leading up to an election in next year, the prospects <br>
<br>
back in 2007 were rosy for Labor. <br>
<br>
<br>
<br>
The election that was looming was the 'Kevin 07' landslide that would see <br>
<br>
Kevin Rudd become prime minister and John Howard lose <br>
<br>
his own seat. <br>
<br>
<br>
<br>
The issue which blew open the 'guilty secret' of the Chairman's Lounge then wasn't about a prime minister's privileges, although John Howard and <br>
<br>
Kevin Rudd were certainly both members during their terms <br>
<br>
as PM. <br>
<br>
<br>
<br>
But when broadcaster Steve Price - himself a long <br>
<br>
time Chairman's Lounge member - revealed a politically charged remark made within the club's hallowed walls, the <br>
<br>
cat was out of the bag.<br>
<br>
<br>
<br>
The political revelation - a comment by ex-rock star turned senator Peter Garrett <br>
<br>
that Labor would change the policies it campaigned <br>
<br>
on if it won government - did not deter his party <br>
<br>
from romping in on election day.<br>
<br>
<br>
<br>
In contrast, the scandal currently engulfing Anthony Albanese about his Chairman's Lounge membership and that of his <br>
<br>
ex-wife Carmel Tebbutt, and their son Nathan could bring down the prime minister. <br>
<br>
<br>
<br>
<br>
<br>
<br>
<br>
<br>
<br>
The exclusive Qantas Chairman's Lounge (above) has been a well-kept secret for years, but it <br>
<br>
exploded into the public conscience in 2007 as the result of a <br>
<br>
political furore<br>
<br>
<br>
<br>
<br>
<br>
<br>
<br>
<br>
<br>
<br>
<br>
Broadcaster Steve Price revealed he had been a Chairman's <br>
<br>
Lounge member since 2002 during a row before the 2007 election won by <br>
<br>
Kevin Rudd which let the cat out of the bag about the VIP club<br>
<br>
<br>
<br>
The existence of the lounge was so little known back in 2007 that <br>
<br>
in defending his disclosure of Garrett's remark, <br>
<br>
Steve Price had to explain what the private enclave actually was.<br>
<br>
<br>
<br>
<br>
<br>
In a first person piece he wrote: 'The Chairman's Lounge is a separate frequent flyers <br>
<br>
lounge away from the crowded normal Qantas Club. <br>
<br>
<br>
<br>
'As its name implies, the people given access to it are approved by the Qantas chairman, Margaret <br>
<br>
Jackson. <br>
<br>
<br>
<br>
<b>'I have been a Chairman's Lounge member since 2002.'</b><br>
<br>
<br>
<br>
In his opinion piece, Price also revealed TV entertainment reporter Richard <br>
<br>
Wilkins was also a member of lounge.<br>
<br>
<br>
<br>
Wilkins had also been inside at the time and was his only witness <br>
<br>
to the remark Price said Garrett had made.<br>
<br>
<br>
<br>
<br>
<br>
Other prominent media figures, such as 60 Minutes reporters, actors and performers, <br>
<br>
and well-known writers and sports people are said to be among the lounge's exclusive membership of around 6000.<br>
<br>
<br>
<br>
<br>
<br>
<br>
<br>
Price went on to defend himself for reporting what some claimed was a confidential conversation in a private place,<br>
<br>
but which exposed him to criticism over his own membership for allegedly promoting Qantas on his radio show.<br>
<br>
<br>
<br>
<br>
<br>
<br>
<br>
<br>
<br>
<br>
<br>
Back in 2007, Alan Joyce (left) was boss of the comparatively lowly budget airline Jetstar, and <br>
<br>
then Qantas CEO Geoff Dixon (right) had the power over <br>
<br>
who made the cut to the Chairman's Lounge<br>
<br>
<br>
<br>
<br>
<br>
<br>
<br>
<br>
<br>
<br>
<br>
One observer has described the relationship bet6ween leading politicians such <br>
<br>
as PM Anthony Albanese and the former Qantas CEO Alan Joyce (above) as <br>
<br>
'alarmingly cosy'<br>
<br>
<br>
<br>
'Why on earth is Qantas giving a controversial shock jock membership of its Chairman's Lounge, <br>
<br>
which is supposedly to enable our elite politicians and business leaders some <br>
<br>
privacy from the hoi polloi?' demanded Crikey reporter Stephen Mayne at the time.<br>
<br>
<br>
<br>
<br>
<br>
'The Chairman's Lounge is meant to be all about discretion and confidentiality,' <br>
<br>
he said, accusing Price of breaking 'a confidence'.<br>
<br>
<br>
<br>
<br>
<br>
The following year, before he was succeeded as Qantas CEO by Alan Joyce,<br>
<br>
Geoff Dixon was the sole gatekeeper of entry into the club's hushed confines.<br>
<br>
<br>
<br>
<br>
<br>
Qantas Chairman's Lounge membership was 'so exclusive that you have to be personally invited by <br>
<br>
the airline's chieftain', Nine newspapers reported in 2008.<br>
<br>
<br>
<br>
<br>
<br>
<br>
<br>
'A marvellous benefit of lounge membership is that the mega rich and powerful avoid having to mingle with the riffraff who will be travelling cattle <br>
<br>
class.<br>
<br>
<br>
<br>
<b>'Having said that, members of the ultra-exclusive club have included Pauline Hanson.</b><br>
<br>
<br>
<br>
'Another lounge member is Brad Cooper, who is currently enjoying a prolonged exposure <br>
<br>
to cattle-class in Kirkconnell Correctional Centre.' (Cooper was the former HIH insurance executive jailed for <br>
<br>
eight years on fraud and bribery offences).<br>
<br>
<br>
<br>
<br>
<br>
<br>
<br>
<br>
<br>
<br>
<br>
Membership of the elite lounge is confined to about 6000 Australians including politicians from both sides, <br>
<br>
senior public servants, TV stars and actors<br>
<br>
<br>
<br>
<br>
<br>
<br>
<br>
<br>
<br>
<br>
<br>
<br>
<br>
The 'scandal' currently engulfing Anthony Albanese <br>
<br>
about his Chairman's Lounge membership and that of his ex-wife Carmel Tebbutt, and their son Nathan could bring down the <br>
<br>
prime minister (above the PM with partner Jodie Haydon and ex-Qantas <br>
<br>
CEO Alan Joyce)<br>
<br>
<br>
<br>
The report noted that politicians declaring membership of the lounge 'which <br>
<br>
most of their spouses got too' in their pecuniary interests that year included Liberal <br>
<br>
MPs of the day, Philip Ruddock, Bob Baldwin and Andrew Southcott.<br>
<br>
<br>
<br>
<br>
<br>
Labor MPs with lounge privileges included Tanya Plibersek, Bob McMullan, and Sharon Grierson, and Martin Ferguson declared <br>
<br>
a bottle of Grange hermitage as a gift from Qantas,<br>
<br>
as did Liberal, Christopher Pyne.<br>
<br>
<br>
<br>
Asked if all MPs got the captain's pick from Geoff Dixon, <br>
<br>
the airline's spokesperson told Nine: 'We like to retain a bit of mystery. Membership is by invitation only and it <br>
<br>
is reviewed periodically.'<br>
<br>
<br>
<br>
Fast forward to today, and nearly every single federal <br>
<br>
politician in the country has accepted free membership of the controversial, <br>
<br>
invitation-only lounge with one even describing it as an 'entitlement'. <br>
<br>
<br>
<br>
Qantas and the Albanese government recently denied the 'very, <br>
<br>
very high-end perk' gives the airline a disproportionate <br>
<br>
level of influence over the country's politicians.<br>
<br>
<br>
<br>
They were commenting ahead of the launch of the new book The Chairman's <br>
<br>
Lounge by former Australian Financial Review columnist <br>
<br>
Joe Aston, which has stirred up the controversy. <br>
<br>
<br>
<br>
A Daily Mail Australia audit of the members' interest <br>
<br>
registers - in both Federal Parliament's House of Representatives and the Senate - revealed <br>
<br>
almost 93 per cent of the nation's leaders have been 'gifted' membership to the lavish, all-inclusive <br>
<br>
lounge.<br>
<br>
<br>
<br>
Mr Albanese has defended himself by saying he declared all his benefits in pecuniary interest <br>
<br>
statements. <br>
<br>
<br>
<br>
At a press conference this week, he repeated that all of his upgrades 'have been declared <br>
<br>
as appropriate. What's appropriate is transparency.' <br>
<br>
<br>
<br>
Apart from the PM, members include every one of his 22-person Cabinet, his seven-person Outer <br>
<br>
Ministry and all 12 assistant ministers.<br>
<br>
<br>
<br>
<br>
<br>
<br>
<br>
<br>
<br>
<br>
<br>
PM Anthony Albanese and every member of his 22-person Cabinet, his seven-person Outer Ministry and all 12 assistant ministers are members of the exclusive Chairman's Lounge<br>
<br>
<br>
<br>
<br>
<br>
<br>
<br>
<br>
<br>
<br>
<br>
Entry to the country's six opulent VIP clubs are suitably discreet, but once inside, the designer lounges offer free à la carte fine dining,<br>
<br>
table service and a discreet army of dedicated lounge attendants<br>
<br>
<br>
<br>
On the Coalition side of parliament, Opposition Leader Peter Dutton, <br>
<br>
deputy leader David Littleproud and former deputy Barnaby Joyce <br>
<br>
are also among the swathes of politicians who have disclosed they have taken up free membership to the contentious club.<br>
<br>
<br>
<br>
<br>
<br>
<u>Bill Shorten is a member, Tanya Plibersek is still a member and <br>
<br>
so is Teal MP, Zali Steggall.</u><br>
<br>
<br>
<br>
Last year it was reported that Australian Competition and <br>
<br>
Consumer Commission chairwoman Gina Cass-Gottlieb and Australian Securities and Investments Commission chairman Joe Longo <br>
<br>
and some of their deputies are members of the Chairman's Lounge despite <br>
<br>
regulating the airline. <br>
<br>
<br>
<br>
Senior public servants in the club included <br>
<br>
Department of Prime Minister and Cabinet secretary Glyn Davis, deputy secretaries Nadine Williams,<br>
<br>
Liz Hefren-Webb, Rachel Bacon and ambassador to Beijing, <br>
<br>
Scott Dewar.<br>
<br>
<br>
<br>
Other Qantas freebies bestowed on members include numerous business class flight upgrades, model Qantas aircrafts,<br>
<br>
frequent flyer points, and tickets to sporting and entertainment events. <br>
<br>
<br>
<br>
Touted as 'the most exclusive club in the country', membership to the Chairman's Lounge is still veiled in secrecy.<br>
<br>
<br>
<br>
<br>
<br>
<br>
<br>
<br>
<br>
<br>
<br>
The new book The Chairman's Lounge by former Australian Financial Review columnist Joe Aston (above) has <br>
<br>
stirred up the controversy <br>
<br>
<br>
<br>
<br>
<br>
<br>
<br>
<br>
<br>
<br>
<br>
Australian Competition and Consumer Commission chairwoman Gina Cass-Gottlieb and Australian Securities <br>
<br>
and Investments Commission chairman Joe Longo are members despite regulating the airline<br>
<br>
<br>
<br>
Even the entrances to each of the country's six opulent VIP clubs - in Sydney, <br>
<br>
Melbourne, Brisbane, Adelaide, Canberra and Perth airports - are suitably discreet.<br>
<br>
<br>
<br>
<br>
<br>
Once inside, however, the designer lounges are noticeably luxurious, <br>
<br>
with free à la carte fine dining, table service, a decadent selection of wines and Champagne and a discreet <br>
<br>
army of dedicated lounge attendants.<br>
<br>
<br>
<br>
<strong><u>Virgin Airlines has its own version of the VIP enclave, the 'Beyond' lounge. </u></strong><br>
<br>
<br>
<br>
Only a handful of federal politicians have relinquished their <br>
<br>
membership to the Qantas Chairman's Lounge in the wake of the furore.<br>
<br>
<br>
<br>
<br>
<br>
The select few to take a principled stand on the issue include South Australian senator <br>
<br>
Barbara Pocock and former Wallabies star turned ACT senator <br>
<br>
David Pocock, along with MPs Stephen Bates, Queensland Green Elizabeth Watson-Brown, and Monique Ryan, a Teal from <br>
<br>
Victoria.<br>
<br>
<br>
<br>
Geoffrey Watson SC, a former counsel assisting the Independent Commission Against <br>
<br>
Corruption and a director of the Centre for Public Integrity,<br>
<br>
has implored all politicians and policymakers to follow suit.<br>
<br>
<br>
<br>
<br>
<br>
<b>'There are certain positions in life where you cannot take Chairman's Club membership,' <br>
<br>
he said.</b><br>
<br>
<br>
<br>
'You're taking public money for the job and you are supposed to represent the <br>
<br>
public. Why not sit with them while you're waiting for a plane?'<br>
<br>
<br>
<br>
<br>
<br>
QantasAnthony Albanese<br>
<br>
<br>
<br>
Here is my blog - <a href="http://jintbbs.cn/home.php?mod=space&uid=70570">ขาย wine</a>
The existence of an exclusive