Peter Dutton says Anthony Albanese should refer himself to the NACC over Qantas flight upgrades

Peter Dutton has called for Anthony Albanese to “take the initiative” to refer himself to the national anti-corruption commission, amid revelations he received flight upgrades while transport minister — in what could be a breach of the ministerial code of conduct.

An under-fire Prime Minister on Tuesday dodged questions about whether he had made personal requests to former Qantas chief Alan Joyce for flight upgrades — including while minister — and instead scrambled to launch attacks on Mr Dutton and a journalist.

Joe Aston revealed in his new book that Mr Albanese had received at least 22 flight upgrades worth tens of thousands of dollars over the years. He claimed Mr Albanese had a direct line to Mr Joyce while in the portfolio, and that he used that to request upgrades.

Fronting the media, the PM failed to rule out whether or not he had ever made such representations to Mr Joyce, instead saying there were no “specific” accusations being made.

He derided the reports as an attempt to “sell a book” and called Aston’s transparency into question.

“I just make the point that the person who is trying to sell a book... I don’t see declarations that he’s a former Liberal Party staffer for a number of senior members of the Liberal Party. I don’t see declarations that he’s a former Qantas employee,” Mr Albanese said.

Aston immediately took to social media to share the first page of his book, which disclosed his history with the Liberal Party and Qantas.

“It has never been a secret. This is beyond desperate from the PM,” Aston wrote on X.

In his combative press conference, Mr Albanese was adamant that he had always played by the rules and had declared all upgrades.

But the ministerial code of conduct in place at the time he was transport minister, which was released by Kevin Rudd in 2007 and adopted by Julia Gillard in 2010, banned ministers from soliciting gifts in their personal capacity.

“Members are required to exercise the functions of their public office unaffected by considerations of personal advantage or disadvantage,” the code states.

“Ministers, in their official capacity, may therefore accept customary official gifts, hospitality, tokens of appreciation, and similar formal gestures in accordance with the relevant guidelines, but must not seek or encourage any form of gift in their personal capacity.”

Mr Dutton said “by his own admission” Mr Albanese had breached the code.

“I think his integrity is in question and I think it is why a lot of his colleagues are starting to question his judgement on this and other issues, Mr Dutton said.

He said Mr Albanese should refer the matter to the National Anti-Corruption Commission, as he insinuated Mr Albanese had potentially reciprocated Mr Joyce’s gifts to the detriment of everyday Australians.

Pointing to last year’s decision to block Qatar Airways’ bid for more flights, supposedly after lobbying from Qantas, Mr Dutton said there were reasonable questions to be asked.

“There would be more competition in the market if he had taken a decision not to side with Qantas... and not knowing what we know today, no-one understood why the Prime Minister overrode the decision,” he said.

“If Prime Minister Albanese had not decided to support his mate, Alan Joyce, I think we would find ourselves in a position where we would have lower airfares today because there would be more competition and it is another example of the Prime Minister putting himself before other Australians.”

Mr Albanese said he had “always acted in an open and transparent way”.

“In my time in public life, I have acted with integrity, acted in a way that is entirely appropriate, and I have declared in accordance with the rules,” Mr Albanese said.

He said Mr Dutton couldn’t throw stones, given the Opposition Leader was accepting flights on private jets “owned by billionaires” that he never declared.

When asked whether he had ever directly contacted Mr Joyce for upgrades, Mr Albanese said the only conversations he could recall with the former chief executive about the flights related to the first direct Perth to London flight; and the first Qantas/ Emirates A380 flight to Dubai — which were not commercial flights.

He further added that ten of the 22 flights in question were during the period of the leadership challenge between Mr Albanese and former Labor leader Bill Shorten.

“Both Qantas and Virgin provided upgrades for flights that were paid for by the Australian Labor Party to make sure there was not any cost to taxpayers for what was internal business,” he said.

Meanwhile, the Opposition is considering asking the Senate to form a new inquiry that could force Mr Joyce — who retired last year — to front up and explain.

“I think people are rightly furious about this,” Coalition transport spokeswoman Bridget McKenzie said.

The Coalition tried — and failed — to get Mr Joyce before a Senate inquiry into Qantas last year, with his successor Vanessa Hudson ultimately left to answer questions.

Government ministers have rallied around Mr Albanese in the wake of this week’s revelations and accused the Coalition of playing politics.

Social Services Minister Amanda Rishworth said the whole thing had been a “complete pile on” on the Prime Minister.