Aussie politicians are called out for shocking Qantas act – as Anthony Albanese’s minister is drawn into saga with shock admission

The scandal surrounding politicians’ Qantas upgrades has deepened with the claim that taxpayers are being cheated out of tens of millions of dollars a year because rules about them taking the cheapest available flights are repeatedly being broken.

Qantas’ biggest rival, Virgin Australia, claimed in a bombshell submission to the  government’s Aviation White Paper that it gets just 23 per cent of the $250m annual government spend on flights, despite being up to 30 per cent cheaper.

The furore started just over a week ago when claims emerged that Anthony Albanese got 22 upgrades from economy on Qantas flights by personally requesting them from the airline’s then CEO Mr Joyce – which the Prime Minister has categorically denied.

The claim was made in Joe Aston’s book The Chairman’s Lounge – The Inside story of how Qantas Sold us out, and has led to Mr Albanese being called ‘upgrade Albo’.

In its submission to the White Paper, which charts a course for the aviation industry over the next quarter century, Virgin also said work flights taken by politicians, their staff and public servants should not be eligible for Qantas ‘status credits’. 

Status credits allow frequent flyers to get access to benefits such as upgrades and are another potential reason for flying with Qantas rather than cheaper rivals such as Virgin. 

Though the Coalition did nothing to change the system of favouring Qantas while in power from 2013-2022, it is now demanding that the cheapest-fare rule be followed. 

Politicians from all sides regularly get free Qantas upgrades and many are members of the exclusive Chairman’s Lounge, but Opposition leader Peter Dutton claimed the difference is that Mr Albanese he personally contacted Mr Joyce for upgrades. 

The Coalition’s Transport Spokeswoman Bridget McKenzie said ‘the Prime Minister just wants to protect his favoured, dominant airline’. 

‘Labor has allowed the government’s contracted travel provider to consistently favour Qantas,’ she told the Sun Herald. 

But Ms McKenzie herself got caught up in the public fury over Qantas upgrades by first denying she had benefited from one, then later admitting she had.

The senator said a review into travel rules by the Department of Finance was not needed.

‘They just need to act to ensure the government’s travel provider offers public servants the lowest-cost practical fare the first time, rather than offering Qantas as the default,’ she said.

Ms McKenzie told the ABC on Friday that ‘it was wrong of me to be so emphatic’ in her initial claim that she had never got a Qantas upgrade.

‘I don’t probably believe I should be subjecting other people to standards I’m not prepared to subject myself to.’

Daily Mail Australia has contacted Ms McKenzie for further comment. 

In Virgin’s submission to the White Paper, which was lodged last January, it said the government was overspending on flights by tens of millions of dollars by failing to book the cheapest flight available.

‘These spending patterns serve to entrench Qantas’ dominance and deny Virgin Australia a real opportunity to attract government and corporate passengers,’ its submission said.

‘The pervasiveness of Qantas Chairman’s Lounge Membership amongst Australians of influence, including politicians, also sheds light on these decisions.’

Though his book has led to rage against the Prime Minister over his seemingly cosy relationship with Qantas, and in particular its former CEO Mr Joyce, Aston told Daily Mail Australia it is ‘not a hit job on Anthony Albanese’.

Aston insisted he’s ‘not trying to get a scalp’, but reiterated said Mr Albanese ‘had a direct line to Alan Joyce’.

But the blows to the federal government continued on Sunday when Education Minister Jason Clare admitted to requesting a free flight upgrade from Qantas while on a personal trip to Singapore in 2019.

Qantas’ (plane pictured) biggest rival, Virgin Australia, claimed it gets just 23 per cent of the $250m annual government spend on flights, despite being up to 30 per cent cheaper

Education Minister Jason Clare admitted on Sunday to requesting a free flight upgrade from Qantas while on a personal trip to Singapore in 2019

He said he asked for it after having a melanoma cut out of his leg.

‘That was a personal trip, and that was a situation where I had just got out of hospital,’ he told Sky News.

‘I had surgery on my leg and, yep, I asked for an upgrade and I was assisted by Qantas.’

Asked who he contacted, Mr Clare said he remembered ‘picking up the phone and asking for a bit of assistance’ but that he ‘can’t remember all of the details’.

He said it was ‘probably’ a government relations staffer at Qantas.

‘I don’t want to mislead you, but I definitely asked for that just to help me after the surgery,’ Mr Clare said.

He was on his way to meet up with his family, who were already overseas at the time.