Anthony Albanese - How long? -2-

[Saint]

The plane rorting is strange. Maybe I've missed parts of the story, but why are they asking for upgrades? Aren't they already travelling Business or First Class?

Why do they need an upgrade? And why would their kids be entitled to anything. If you were upset about Abbott getting his daughter into a select-entry uni course, you should be angry about Albanese's kids getting airport lounge access.

 

[1990crow]

The plane rorting is strange. Maybe I've missed parts of the story, but why are they asking for upgrades? Aren't they already travelling Business or First Class?

Why do they need an upgrade? And why would their kids be entitled to anything. If you were upset about Abbott getting his daughter into a select-entry uni course, you should be angry about Albanese's kids getting airport lounge access.

Out of everything the Liberal party has done to this country, a uni course sits a long way down the list of wrong doings.

 

[Shane Sheridan]

Yep.

It's a shocking lack of judgement and respect for transparency from a former Minister for Transport and current PM.

The suggestion that 'almost everyone does it' (elected officials seeking favour from corporates) is demonstrably true but that doesn't detract from the lack of integrity of it all - especially as in this case it involves a direct negotiation for personal benefit between a Minister and a CEO of a company under his direct portfolio responsibility.

Albanese might have got out of this with his honour in place if he simply owned up to his transgression and did some sort of mea culpa attempt at accepting blame and using it to make change.

He didn't.

He tried the old three card trick of 'but I declared it' when surely even he knew the facts show that was at best a part truth. Again, he wasn't the first and won't be the last MP to get caught out in his own BS chicanery, but he was caught out nevertheless. He lost track of what it means to be a public official and deserves every once of the political flack he will get from now to the election.

On a side note, if this leads to every state and federal MP or public agency CEO who gets a Chairman's Club pass for life having to hand theirs in and being unable to ever accept such blatant corporate bribery again then the public has had a win.

Edit: Mind you, having the likes of LNP hero and former Deputy PM Barnaby Joyce lecturing others about 'not passing the pub test' is a huge and literal piss take.

View attachment 2153274

In Barnaby's defence, pretty sure he's been misquoted - in all probability he was saying 'not passing the pub'

 

[Sttew]

So you are saying there was no additional cost to the taxpayer?

Who said anything about cost to taxpayers, Einstein? Only you. I was just letting the poster know how the Chairman’s Lounge differs from Qantas Club

 

[Kram]

Thread as always full of cheerleaders and deflection but this is not a good look at all.

 

[Saint]

Thread as always full of cheerleaders and deflection but this is not a good look at all.

LNP and their friendly media are using it to erode Albanese's rags-to-riches back story.

"See, even though he started poor, once he got to the top, he put his snout in the trough like the rest of us and is just another 'Canberra elite'".

It'll work extremely well with working-class voters and people who don't know a lot about politics but see the newspaper front pages and listen to talkback radio.

 

[Sttew]

LNP and their friendly media are using it to erode Albanese's rags-to-riches back story.

"See, even though he started poor, once he got to the top, he put his snout in the trough like the rest of us and is just another 'Canberra elite'".

It'll work extremely well with working-class voters and people who don't know a lot about politics but see the newspaper front pages and listen to talkback radio.

If it was just accepting and even requesting flight upgrades I think we wouldn't "bat an eyelid". But its not.

 

[Boxo004]

If it was just accepting and even requesting flight upgrades I think we wouldn't "bat an eyelid". But its not.

Exactly and that’s the point the cheerleaders are overlooking

 

[Festerz]

I fully understand why our government leaders, like their business counterparts need to travel in business class for international travel to official meetings and functions. But it should be totally transparent and tickets paid for up front with no side deals or free upgrades which only opens up the recipient to the perception of a potential conflict of interest or being out of touch with their citizens.

Perhaps our politicians need to learn something from Singapore.

 

[Festerz]

At the end of the day, it's an airport lounge. Do you get complimentary sexual favours in this lounge or something? People make it sound like the best thing since sliced bread.

Well I know from ONE personal experience that the Qantas FIRST lounge offers international travellers a full sit down a la carte menu at all times and a complimentary therapeutic massage so who knows what happens behind that secret access door to the Chairmans Lounge.


I imagine its a bit like the Melbourne Club (and that's one place I will never be allowed access to I'm sure). Groucho Marx's famous quote about refusing to join any club that would have me as a member comes to mind.

 

[Balls In]

Reignites the question of why the Albo govt blocked access to Qatar? A few trinkets to Albo and Qantas gets to keep its monopoly and Australians pay top dollar for crap service.

 

[Jane Doe]

Reignites the question of why the Albo govt blocked access to Qatar? A few trinkets to Albo and Qantas gets to keep its monopoly and Australians pay top dollar for crap service.

His press conference yesterday was a train wreck. Even the cheerleaders on here might agree with that

 

[Chief]

If you were upset about Abbott getting his daughter into a select-entry uni course, you should be angry about Albanese's kids getting airport lounge access.

Sorry I haven't been in the loop on this thread - you're serious about that?

 

[Saint]

Sorry I haven't been in the loop on this thread - you're serious about that?

Albanese is getting favours just like Abbott was and people criticised Abbott for it. They shouldn't then defend Albanese.

 

[Chief]

Albanese is getting favours just like Abbott was and people criticised Abbott for it. They shouldn't then defend Albanese.

How is access to a nice lounge at an airport equivalent to Abbott's free course?

 

[Sttew]

How is access to a nice lounge at an airport equivalent to Abbott's free course?

Chief, in this case the optics are worse. Over a period of years Albo was given upgrades and other Qantas perks. Then when Qatar Airways requested permission to increase flights into Australia Albo said no. We don't know if Joyce asked Albo to reject Qatar's request, whether Albo felt he owed it to Alan Joyce to reject Qatar's request, or whether it was purely coincidental. In any case, Qantas stood to gain benefit from the refusal.

 

[Saint]

How is access to a nice lounge at an airport equivalent to Abbott's free course?

It's not a lot different and this one was more obvious.