(Bloomberg) -- Australia’s Prime Minister Anthony Albanese has denied personally calling former Qantas Airways Ltd. boss Alan Joyce to ask for flight upgrades, as a growing scandal over free perks provided by the national carrier threatens to engulf his government.
Albanese was accused in a book by former Australian Financial Review columnist Joe Aston of personally contacting Joyce to ask for perks and receiving more than a dozen free upgrades. Since the story broke, the prime minister has said he declared all upgrades as well as his Chairman’s Lounge membership.
In a statement on Thursday, Albanese’s office went further and denied he had contacted Joyce for perks.
“The Prime Minister did not ever call Alan Joyce seeking an upgrade,” a spokesperson said. “All travel has been appropriately declared and is a matter of public record.”
Local media reported that Albanese had also denied texting or emailing Joyce, or Qantas’ government relations representative, to request free flight upgrades. The airline didn’t respond to an email seeking comment on the claim that Albanese solicited upgrades directly from Joyce.
According to a Sky News report Thursday, Albanese had a dedicated contact at Qantas who handled his flight upgrades.
Qantas didn’t immediately respond to an email seeking comment on the latest report.
The scandal has dominated Australia’s media in recent days, causing a re-examination of the free perks that are provided to politicians by Qantas. Many Australian lawmakers and some senior government officials are given free access to Qantas’s invitation-only Chairman’s Lounge, described by Joyce as “probably the most exclusive club in the country.”
Even Paul Brereton, commissioner of Australia’s new federal National Anti-Corruption Commission, was gifted a membership by the airline in October 2023, according to the body’s gift and benefits register.
The accusations come as Albanese is struggling to convince voters that he is tackling a national cost-of-living crisis, sparked by high inflation, a housing shortage and interest rates at a 12-year high.
A Newspoll published in mid-October found Albanese’s center-left Labor government was trailing the Liberal-National opposition for the first time since coming to office in May 2022.
(Updates with Sky News report from 6th paragraph.)
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