Two words from Alan Joyce prove just how close he is with Anthony Albanese – despite the Prime Minister trying to play down their relationship

Anthony Albanese has tried to claim his relationship with Alan Joyce was strictly a professional one between a Prime Minister and a business giant, as he fights claims the Qantas boss was his ‘personal travel agent’ for free flights and upgrades.

That characterization of the relationship, however, conflicted with that of Mr. Joyce, who said he was “good friends” with Mr. Albanese and had been “for years.”

In the wake of explosive claims that the Prime Minister had Mr Joyce arrange free tickets and upgrades, Mr Albanese distanced himself from the Qantas chief.

When asked about their relationship on Sunday, Mr Albanese suggested it was purely in a professional capacity, having been transport minister and shadow transport spokesman before becoming prime minister.

“He (Joyce) was the CEO of the national airline… I had the same relationship with him that I have with John Borghetti as CEO of Virgin,” Mr Albanese said.

That assessment was at odds with the many photos in which Mr. Albanese and Mr. Joyce apparently enjoyed each other’s company immensely.

Mr Albanese and Mr Joyce were pictured cheerfully on the red carpet at the 100th Qantas Gala Dinner in March last year.

In photos from the event, Mr Joyce walks proudly down the red carpet with one arm around the Prime Minister and the other around Mr Albanese’s partner, Jodie Haydon.

Just five months later, in August, a smiling Albanian attended Qantas’ unveiling of its special ‘Yes 23’-decorated planes for the Voice referendum.

Mr Joyce was seen touching Mr Albanese’s arm as the Prime Minister burst out laughing.

Even when Scott Morrison was prime minister, Mr Joyce enjoyed an apparently close relationship with Mr Albanese, as the pair stood close to each other at the launch of the Qantas flight from Perth to London in March 2018.

At a Senate hearing in September 2023, Joyce said he had been friends with Mr Albanese “for years.”

Asked why he gave Mr Albanese’s son, Nathan, a membership to the prestigious and exclusive Chairman’s Lounge, Mr Joyce refused to confirm or deny this but spoke about his relationship with the Prime Minister.

“I’ve been good friends with Albo for a while,” Mr. Joyce said.

However, the then Qantas CEO refused to say whether he had lobbied the Prime Minister over the controversial decision to exclude rival Qatar Airways from domestic routes.

Since then, a new book on Qantas, The Chairman’s Lounge, by former Australian Financial Review columnist Joe Aston has revealed that Ms Haydon is also a member of the Chairman’s Lounge.

Mr Albanese and Mr Joyce also seemed to really enjoy each other’s company at a Qantas event in August last year

Messages have appeared in a new book. Mr Albanese received 22 economic upgrades from Qantas and was said to be personally contacting the airline’s former boss for them.

Aston also claimed that Albanese had contacted Joyce directly during his various parliamentary roles to request special upgrades for himself or his family.

According to unnamed Qantas ‘insiders’, 11 of the 22 flights for which Albanese received upgrades were ‘privately funded’ and included overseas trips to Rome, London, Los Angeles and Honolulu, some of which were for holidays.

Mr Albanese stressed on Tuesday that the flights to London were for work purposes and that they were all ‘properly indicated’.

Leader of the Opposition Peter Duton has responded to allegations that Mr Albanese is Mr Joyce’s ‘best friend’.

Mr Dutton told Sky News on Monday evening that it was “strange” that Mr Albanese had contacted Mr Joyce directly to request upgrades while he held a regulatory role in the transport sector.

‘If you are the Minister for Transport and you call one of the key stakeholders in the portfolio asking for a free upgrade, then I think the Prime Minister could answer those questions more effectively than anyone else because I don’t know that someone else did it,” Mr Dutton said.

It has since emerged that Ms Haydon is also a member of the Qantas Chairman’s Lounge

The Prime Minister denied regularly asking Mr Joyce for upgrades at a press conference in the NSW city of Newcastle on Tuesday.

“The only conversations I can remember with Alan Joyce were certainly not over the phone – we were discussing the first flight from Australia to Dubai on the A380,” he said.

“I have declared everything in accordance with all the rules.”

Aston was asked by ABC interviewer Sarah Ferguson on Monday evening how confident he was that Mr Albanese had personally called Mr Joyce for upgrades.

“I feel very comfortable with my purchasing,” Aston said.

Asked whether he thought Mr Albanese had been influenced by Mr Joyce’s lobbying to block the UAE’s airline Qatar domestically, Aston said it was “implausible” to think the Prime Minister’s office did nothing had to do with the decision.

Mr Albanese’s son Nathan, 24, has also reportedly been given access to the Qantas Chairman’s Lounge (pictured, Mr Albanese and son Nathan in May 2022)

“It is very difficult to imagine a decision of any political sensitivity in the Albanian government that would not be made through the Prime Minister’s office,” Aston replied.

He noted that Qatar had seemingly moved through the opening of Australia’s domestic market, with Transport Minister Catherine King speaking warmly about the proposal until “everything changed” to stop it.

Ms King repeatedly denied in parliament that the decision to block Qatar was due to Qantas lobbying her or Labor colleagues.

Despite Mr Albanese claiming he declared every upgrade he received from Qantas, the Australian Financial Review reported on Tuesday he had not done so for his ex-wife Carmel Tebbutt when the two traveled together.

Opposition Leader Peter Dutton has questioned alleged personal requests made by Mr Albanese to Mr Joyce during his various parliamentary roles

Even when Scott Morrison was Prime Minister, Mr Joyce appeared to have a close relationship with Mr Albanese (the pair are pictured at an event in 2019)

Sky New presenter Sharri Markson on Monday night branded Mr Joyce as ‘basically Albanians’ personal travel agent’.

‘This is all a matter of integrity. Most Australians struggle to afford even an economy plane ticket. They could never afford the luxury of business class. It is beyond our reach,” she said.

“Can Albanians really be impartial when it comes to making decisions about Qantas while he gets tens of thousands of dollars worth of free upgrades to business class? The revelations put a cloud on the decision he made as Transport Minister and Prime Minister.

‘Apart from the integrity issues, this revelation is also politically deadly. Albanese made sure to put together a self-image of a boy from the housing committee who made it. But now the perception is being reinforced that a long-term pollie enjoys the benefits of public office.”

Another troubling paradox of Mr Albanese’s apparently close relationship with Mr Joyce is that the Labor leader is a union leader, while Qantas tried to break the power of the Transport Workers Union by laying off 1,700 staff during Covid.

The dismissal has since been ruled unlawful by the Federal Court in a case brought by the union, with Qantas potentially having to pay hundreds of thousands in damages.

However, the friendship found a perhaps unlikely defender in semi-retired 3AW radio star Neil Mitchell.

“Quick test: Albo upgrade looks bad,” Mitchell wrote on X.

“But does anyone believe he has been seriously endangered by having Alan Joyce as a best friend? Time to rewrite the rules for politicians.’