Paterson dismisses PM’s ‘carefully worded’ Qantas statement amid upgrade furore

Anthony Albanese and his office have been accused of thinking the Australian people are “dumb” as furore over alleged dodgy flight upgrades grinds on.

The Prime Minister’s Office (PMO) put out a statement on Wednesday saying Mr Albanese “did not ever call Alan Joyce seeking an upgrade” after claims he had solicited seat bump from the ex-Qantas boss.

But senior Coalition senator James Paterson said on Thursday the “carefully worded” statement did not cut it.

“I honestly wonder how dumb the Prime Minister’s office thinks the Australian people are that they’ll be fooled by such a carefully worded statement, which doesn’t go to the core of the issue at all,” he told Sky News.

“The only thing the Prime Minister’s office (PMO) has ruled out on his behalf is he didn’t call Alan Joyce asking for an upgrade.

“They haven’t ruled out that he sent Alan Joyce a text message or an email or that he contacted anyone else in senior management at Qantas by any means or that any of his staff contacted anyone at Qantas soliciting an upgrade.”

Though, the PMO, which put the statement out after trawling through thousands of flights, has since clarified Mr Albanese never contacted Mr Joyce via text or email asking for a flight upgrade either.

The clarification echoed remarks from Mr Albanese reported by 2GB.

The radio station said it exchanged texts with him to clear it all up.

“Did you ever text Alan Joyce about flight upgrades – the PM’s answer? No,” 2GB reported.

“Did you ever email Alan Joyce about flight upgrades? The PM’s answer again? No.

“Did you ever share with Alan Joyce any flights or travel plans without specifically asking for an upgrade? The PM replied, No.

“Was there someone else at Qantas you were seeking upgrades from or sharing your travel plans with? Again, the PM replied, No.

“Anthony Albanese says he’d just booked the economy flights and got an upgrade to the front of the plane, and he wasn’t asking for anything. That’s what he’s told us.”

Dutton continues flight attack

However, Peter Dutton doubled down on this attack against Mr Albanese, stating there was “still great ambiguity” around his comments.

“Now it took five days to get some sort of a statement out of the Prime Minister. Nothing he said in the five day period was coherent and then issuing the clarifying statement,” he said.

He also questioned whether Mr Albanese’s relationship with the airline impacted Labor's decision to deny Qatar extra flight slots last year, which the Opposition Leader said would have “put downward pressure on those airfares”.

“Now Mr Albanese has to answer the question, why he went against the department’s advice, why he went against the inclination of the current Transport Minister (Catherine King) in relation to allowing Qatar in he still has not answered that question,” he said.

Meanwhile, questions have been raised about Senator Paterson’s Nationals colleague Bridget McKenzie.

Senator McKenzie has led the Coalition’s relentless pursuit of Mr Albanese’s travel perks.

But she confirmed to the Australian Financial Review (AFR) she was probing her own travel records since her election in 2011, amid claims she has not disclosed upgrades.

Senator McKenzie got Qantas flight upgrades as recently as this year, the AFR reported, citing sources.

Failure to follow mandatory disclosure rules on parliamentarians can result in serious disciplinary action.

Mr Dutton said Senator McKenzie had been “open and honest and forthright” in her decision to conduct an audit.

“She’s issued a statement this morning, which, as I say, deals with in a transparent and honest way,” he said.