The Prime Minister has tried to rebuff suggestions he sought flight upgrades directly from Qantas CEO Alan Joyce. But having failed to clearly answer questions about his dealings with the airline boss and attacking others he remains under scrutiny from the Opposition.
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00:00More questions, but not much clarity.
00:06Did you call Alan Joyce personally for these upgrades?
00:09Look, the idea, Qantas have a number in terms of bookings that are made private bookings.
00:19When he was transport minister and later opposition leader,
00:23Anthony Albanese received flight upgrades for personal travel to Rome, LA and London.
00:29A book by a former Nine newspaper reporter says he liaised directly with CEO Alan Joyce about it.
00:36But when pressed, the Prime Minister could only recall discussions about other flights.
00:41I recall direct discussions with Alan Joyce over the flights, the Emirates or Qantas flight to Dubai.
00:53And he went on many other tangents.
00:56He attacked the author of the book.
00:58I don't see declarations that he's a former Liberal Party staffer.
01:02He pointed to other MPs declaring flight upgrades.
01:05Paul Fletcher has been upgraded at least 69 times.
01:09He compared his declarations to those of the opposition leader.
01:12I don't have a family trust, I don't have any shares.
01:16And compared their travel arrangements.
01:18I didn't have to declare any flights on private jets owned by billionaires like Gina Reinhart because I haven't engaged in it.
01:28As simple as that.
01:29Except last year he did accept a private helicopter flight from trucking magnate Lindsay Fox.
01:36For all the retorts, exactly how Anthony Albanese secured those upgrades still isn't entirely clear.
01:44He can throw mud, he can blame other people, but this is a problem of his own making.
01:48And the opposition leader is questioning whether any of this influenced the government's decision last year to block Qatar from offering more international flights.
01:57I think the Prime Minister should take the initiative to refer this matter to the Integrity Commission.
02:02A spokesperson for the Prime Minister calls that suggestion a pathetic attempt at creating a headline.