The moment Anthony Albanese and fiancee Jodie Haydon walked a red carpet with ex-Qantas boss Alan Joyce is missing from newly-released details of the Prime Minister’s official 2023 diary.
The PM’s string of frequent dates with big business executives, sporting bosses and some of his most outspoken political opponents have all been listed in the diary.
But the notable exception is the PM’s appearance that Mr Albanese and his fiancee, Jodie Haydon, made alongside Mr Joyce at a Qantas event in March 2023.
At the time, the PM shared photographs of himself and Ms Haydon alongside the then-Qantas CEO celebrating the national carrier’s centenary.
But there’s no trace of it in the newly-published diary details, which the PM’s staff can redact if certain meetings or travel schedules could pose a threat to safety.
An appearance Mr Albanese and his fiancee, Jodie Haydon, made at a Qantas event in March 2023 is notably absent from the diary
Qantas decked out several planes in Yes23 merchandise and publicly supported the Voice
At the time, the PM was desperately trying to pitch his Indigenous Voice to Parliament referendum to the Australian public.
‘Wonderful to hear the news that Qantas supports recognising Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples in our constitution,’ he said after the event.
‘Here’s to another 100 years.’
In turn, Qantas decked out several planes in Yes23 merchandise and publicly supported the Voice.
Mr Joyce would go on to face intense criticism for his handling of several crises in the top job at Qantas. He stepped down two months ahead of his planned retirement in September 2023 amid all the backlash.
The PM held catch ups with the referendum working group and key figures scattered throughout the diary, but a clear standout is his numerous meetings with CEOs in the resources sector.
It was quietly released to former independent senator Rex Patrick under Freedom of Information laws, offering an insight into the day-to-day requirements of running the country.
Mr Albanese spoke with the boss of BHP, Mike Henry, for 15 minutes back in February 2023, as well as Jakob Stausholm from BHP’s rival Rio Tinto in May.
Mr Albanese’s 2023 diary was quietly released to former independent senator Rex Patrick under Freedom of Information laws, offering an insight into the day-to-day requirements of running the country
Meg O’Neill, the CEO of oil and gas giant Woodside, scored a 30 minute slot with the PM in February during a visit to Perth.
Beyond Australia, Mr Albanese met with CEO of Germany energy company RWE, Markus Krebber, as well as CEO of BlackRock Inc Larry Fink.
Outside of the resources sector, the PM has made plenty of time for sporting bosses.
Gillon McLachlan from the AFL, Peter Vlandys from NRL, Nick Hockley from Cricket Australia and Craig Tiley from Tennis Australia all met with Mr Albanese throughout 2023, as did FIFA president Gianni Infantino.
Greens leader Adam Bandt formally met with the PM seven times, the same number of times as Opposition Leader Peter Dutton.
Despite their repeated – and often heated – political brawls in the chamber and in the media, both Mr Dutton and Mr Albanese have indicated they have a decent relationship behind closed doors
Despite their repeated – and often heated – political brawls in the chamber and in the media, both Mr Dutton and Mr Albanese have indicated they have a decent relationship behind closed doors.
Just weeks after winning the election, Mr Albanese said: ‘Peter Dutton, I must say, I have a much better relationship with Peter Dutton than I had with Scott Morrison.
‘Peter Dutton has never broken a confidence that I’ve had with him.’
It comes after Mr Patrick successfully fought to have some of Mr Albanese’s 2022 diary released under the same laws, despite opposition from the PM and his office.
Some 734 meetings and appointments from that period were redacted by government officials and therefore not available to the public, but Daily Mail Australia analysed the remaining contents of the diary on that occasion.
NRL chairman Peter V’Landys received a meeting with the PM in 2023
Tennis Australia boss Craig Tiley also met with the PM
Mr Dutton was one of the only figures to have repeated face-to-face meetings with Mr Albanese during that period.
The schedule offers an insight into the day-to-day life of a PM. Over that period, Mr Albanese regularly worked seven-day weeks, met with a wide variety of parliamentary colleagues and caught up with business heavyweights.
But any potentially juicy meetings or appointments Mr Albanese attended during that period weren’t made available to the public as they were considered to be confidential information under s37 of the Freedom of Information Act.
That section states that releasing such details could ‘endanger the life or physical safety of any person’ or ‘disclose, or enable a person to ascertain, the existence or identity of a confidential source of information’.
During Mr Albanese’s first 100 days, the PM carved out repeated meetings with his inner circle of senior ministers – namely Foreign Minister Penny Wong and Finance Minister Katy Gallagher.
Both those ministers described by an anonymous Labor insider in a Nine newspapers report this week as figures who are so close to Mr Albanese they are like ‘deputy PMs’.
Then there is Mr Dutton.
The duo first had a brief 15-minute meeting on July 26, the diary said. That was followed by 30 minutes on September 5, again on September 12, and again on October 27, joined on that occasion by Indigenous Australians Minister Linda Burney.
That could well be related to Mr Albanese’s push for an Indigenous Voice to Parliament – which failed after Mr Dutton refused to provide bipartisan support for the measure.
A spokesperson said: ‘The Government works constructively across the Parliament.
‘The Prime Minister regularly meets or has discussions with the Opposition Leader.’
While appearances with the referendum working group and key figures are scattered throughout the diary, a clear standout is in fact his meetings with CEOs in the resources sector
The PM had just one official meeting with Qantas CEO Alan Joyce between May and December 2022 schedule in his diary.
This meeting took place just a month after Qatar Airways made the now infamous pitch to have more flight routes into Australia.
The pair met from 11am to 11.30am on Wednesday, November 23, in the midst of a jam-packed day for the PM in which he had breakfast with the Governor-General, followed by five meetings in the morning with people whose names were redacted from his diary.
Transport Minister Catherine King received a departmental brief the following January, but did not formally block the request until July.
Toward the end of 2023, when the decision was made public, Ms King faced intense scrutiny about the decision, and both she and Mr Albanese were grilled over whether Qantas had any influence over the decision.
In the midst of that scandal and several other PR crises at Qantas, Mr Joyce stepped down from his role.
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