Good afternoon. Peter Dutton has questioned the “strange arrangements” of Anthony Albanese allegedly seeking free Qantas flight upgrades directly from Alan Joyce , as the Coalition sought to cast scrutiny on Labor’s relationship with the airline and its controversial former chief executive. The reports, published over the weekend in extracts from a new book, state that Albanese declared flight upgrades on about 20 Qantas flights between 2009 and 2019 while he occupied various positions including transport minister, shadow transport minister and opposition leader.
“According to Qantas insiders,” the book claims, “Albanese would liaise with Joyce directly about his personal travel.” Dutton, who said he took up to 190 flights a year, since joining parliament in 2001, but “none of [them] happened as a result of me calling my best friend Alan Joyce at Qantas”. Albanese and have sought to downplay the reports, saying the perks had been disclosed on parliamentary interests registers as per longstanding rules.
Lawyers for Ebony Bell, charged with allegedly assaulting the independent senator outside a Melbourne AFL match in May, told the court the accused because of “recent threats”. Tributes have been paid to pilots Gary Criddle and Khadervali Gagguturu, who died with one other person on Saturday, as they were flying through uncontrolled airspace. Shareholder group the Australasian Centre for Corporate Responsibility alleged Santos’s failure to disclose antici.
