Senior Labor Minister Tanya Plibersek snapped at Sunrise host Nat Barr on Monday morning as she was grilled about the free Qantas upgrades scandal currently engulfing Prime Minister Anthony Albanese’s office.
Albanese has come under fire after excerpts were published from the upcoming book by former Australian Financial Review columnist Joe Aston, The Chairman’s Longue: The Inside Story of How Qantas Sold Us Out, by the SMH at the weekend, which detailed 22 free upgrades on economy tickets.
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In the book, Aston claims the free upgrades occurred from 2009, when Albanese was the Rudd government’s federal transport minister. In April 2010, Aston claims, Albanese and his son received an upgrade from Sydney to Rome, estimated at $10,000.
In the book, other bombshell claims include that Albanese would liaise directly with former Qantas CEO Alan Joyce, about his personal travel. In response, Albanese has claimed he declared the upgrades.
On Monday, Barr grilled Plibersek over the travel perks after the minister retreated Albanese’s response that all had been declared.
“Tanya, is there anything wrong with a minister picking up the phone and calling the head of an airline and asking for an upgrade?” Barr asked.
“The prime minister said as transport minister and transport shadow minister,” Plibersek began as she appeared to struggle to explain her position before Barr cut in, pressing her once again.
“I’m not asking what he said. I’m asking what you think? Is there anything wrong with that?” Barr asked.
“He had a good relationship with both airlines. Look, I don’t know any of the detail about it. I’ve seen what you’ve seen reported in the paper,” a clearly frustrated Plibersek responded.
“Just shooting the breeze here. What do you think?” Barr said.
“The prime minister explained himself very well. He did a press conference yesterday. There will be plenty of other media commentary today. I will leave it to him,” Plibersek replied.
Barr then turned her attention to Nationals MP Barnaby Joyce, who himself declared free flight upgrades to the US in September last year.
“Is it OK to do this?” she asked.
“I think there’s a big difference being offered an upgrade and taking it. A lot of people that fly generally get offered upgrades and take them. We all do that,” Joyce said.
“There’s a difference when you solicit it. When you ring up Alan Joyce and say, ‘Alan I would like an upgrade. My name is Anthony Albanese.’ That’s the one that doesn’t pass the pub test.”
“How did you get yours?” Barr asked.
“I think if every person who gets an upgrade is in trouble we will have a lot of people in trouble,” Joyce continued.
“I acknowledge 100 per cent that a lot of politicians get upgrades, me included. It’s whether you solicit it, especially if you ring up Alan Joyce. That’s the issue. That’s the issue Mr Albanese has to explain.”
Before the firey exchange with Barr, Plibersek defended Albanese.
“I think the most important thing is if you receive a benefit like this, that it is declared, and all of these were declared over many years. This has been on the public record the whole time,” Plibersek said.
“So, it’s fine for him to solicit upgrades? Does that make a difference?” Barr asked.
“Well, he was the transport minister and shadow minister … he was travelling a lot for that job. I don’t think it’s any surprise in the role of transport and infrastructure minister you would be travelling a lot,” Plibersek replied.
“As the prime minister has made clear, the whole way through, in every instance, these benefits were declared. And I think that’s what is really important.”