Peter Dutton accuses Albanese – Politics

Opposition Leader Peter Dutton has attacked Prime Minister Anthony Albanese over allegations he received free upgrades from Qantas while he was transport minister. Albanese is accused of approaching the airline’s former chief executive, Alan Joyce, directly to secure promotions for himself and his family, according to a new book by former columnist Joe Aston.

Albanese’s response

For his part, Albanese has strongly denied any impropriety, insisting that all flights and upgrades he received were properly declared. He said he only spoke to Joyce about the free upgrades on two occasions when they were business trips.

“There are no allegations made in any detail about any of this, absolutely nothing,” Albanese said.

He also pointed out that the upgraded flights were paid for by Labor to ensure taxpayers were not charged any expenses.

Calls for investigation

Dutton has hit back at the allegations, saying Albanese should “refer himself to the National Anti-Corruption Commission”.

Describing them as a breach of the code of conduct, Dutton said the prime minister had breached the rules when he was transport minister, saying: “Sometimes people don’t say things inadvertently, but that’s not what happened here”.

Flight details

Speaking to the media, Albanese said one of the upgraded flights was to

Dubai, which was coordinated with the UAE government. He also said he had travelled from Perth to London with other ministers, insisting that all arrangements were transparent and public.

Personal criticism

Albanese has expressed his dismay at Dutton’s personal attacks, describing him as “obsessed” with trying to smear

him and his family. He has suggested he is more transparent than him, saying: “All my financial arrangements are completely transparent… I don’t have a family fund”.

Albanese added that he was not the most promoted MP, pointing to Communications Minister Paul Fletcher who had 69

publicised trips. He stressed that those trips were part of his government responsibilities, explaining that he was more transparent about things than others.

Source.