In a frankly pathetic attempt to divert attention from his own problems, the Prime Minister today played the man short by falsely accusing the author of The Chairman’s Lounge of failing to disclose his past links with the Liberal Party.
Joe Aston’s book revealed Anthony Albanese’s penchant for calling former Qantas CEO Alan Joyce to get free business class upgrades on personal flights. No fewer than 22 times.
Aston briefly worked for the Liberal Party a lifetime ago.
“I don’t see any explanations that he is a former Liberal Party operative,” Albanese said at a news conference today.
“I see no representations that he is a former Qantas employee.”
In fact, Aston’s new book makes both statements, on the very first line of the very first page, as the author noted on social media, and posted the page as evidence.
Aston also rightly labeled the Prime Minister as ‘beyond desperate’.
However, that description doesn’t go nearly far enough in condemning Albo’s attempt to turn his problems back on the author who brought them to light.
It boggles the mind that Albo can’t see what he’s done wrong here. Instead, he goes on the attack and digs an even deeper hole for himself, writes Peter van Onselen
Joe Aston’s book revealed Anthony Albanese’s penchant for calling former Qantas CEO Alan Joyce to get free business class upgrades on personal flights. No fewer than 22 times
It was false and nasty and underlines how low this Prime Minister is willing to stoop when pressured.
Former radio presenter Neil Mitchell tweeted that the Prime Minister should apologize to Aston, which he obviously won’t do.
If Albo is too stubborn to admit he’s looking for business class upgrades when the Transport Minister was wrong, he certainly won’t pick up the phone and apologize for his latest mistake.
Instead of reflecting on his past behavior, the Prime Minister has tried to shoot the messenger.
It was a downright pathetic attempt at deflection – the kind of action you would honestly expect from someone who would harass an airline CEO for freebies despite the perception of a conflict of interest.
The Albanians did this while he was responsible for aviation as Minister of Transport, for heaven’s sake! He also did it when he was Labour’s shadow transport spokesman and during his time as Leader of the Opposition.
Aston revealed his brief stint as a staffer for the Liberal Party, despite having since forged a high-profile and successful career in journalism, grilling politicians on both sides of the major party divide.
No one can reasonably argue that Aston has had a light touch with the Liberals since turning to journalism. For example, some of his most scathing comments were directed at Scott Morrison.
It boggles the mind that Albo can’t see what he’s done wrong here. Instead, he goes on the attack and digs an even deeper hole for himself.
Perhaps the Prime Minister doesn’t think he can admit to past mistakes by proposing reforms to ensure no one else does the same in the future. That would emphasize that he’s the kind of person who needs definitive rules not to do the wrong thing, because otherwise that’s where his instincts take him.
Imagine that you are now one of Albo’s spin doctors. Did either of them give him the Aston attacking line? Or did he come up with that humiliating idea all by himself?
Since 1931, no first-term government has lost a re-election bid. To continue that streak, Labor’s top spin merchants must find a way to drag Albanians’ personal image out of the toilet.
Make no mistake, this is exactly where it is now. Comments like the one about Aston almost flush Albo’s brand straight into the sewer.
I bet Team Albo can’t wait for next week’s US presidential election to divert attention from this issue.
But the damage has already been done and will not be easily forgotten.
Anthony Albanese pictured with his mate, former Qantas CEO Alan Joyce (right)
How do they sell a Prime Minister who has spent the last decade calling the CEO of Qantas to request business class upgrades on personal flights?
It’s unfathomable that he doesn’t think this was wrong on any level. Even though as Minister of Transport he was responsible for the aviation sector when he did that.
And what Albo did was most likely also a violation of the then ministerial code of conduct.
Kevin Rudd drew up the code for his ministers in December 2007. It stated: ‘Ministers are required to discharge the functions of their public office unaffected by considerations of personal advantage.’
How does that fit with Albo’s constant requests for flight upgrades while he was Secretary of Transportation?
The code continues: ‘Ministers may therefore, in their official capacity, accept customary official gifts, hospitality, expressions of appreciation and similar formal gestures in accordance with relevant guidelines, but should not seek or encourage any form of gift in their private sphere. capacity.’
It’s the last part about not seeking personal gifts that likely makes Albo break the rules when requesting flight upgrades on personal vacations for him and his family.
And while the Prime Minister claims he has met the disclosure requirements, we now know he did not disclose the upgrades awarded to his wife at the time, as required by the rules.
Albo is now a drag on Labour’s chances of winning the next election. Simply put, the government’s chances of winning would increase if he were to fire himself and retire to his recently purchased $4.3 million waterfront mansion.
But Albo won’t do that. Even though after his retirement he will be eligible for the exclusive golden travel card as part of the old-fashioned, generous parliamentary pension scheme that guarantees him a prescribed number of business class flights every year.
And he doesn’t even have to shamelessly humiliate himself by calling the CEO to ask (beg?) for it every time he wants a free business class flight.
