Even Pollies Can Smell the Stink

Another day, another few inches of dirt dug in the political hole that is the Qantas upgrades scandal. The stink is getting so high that even pollies are grudgingly admitting that they need to pull their snouts out of the trough, just a bit. Surprisingly, leading the call is none other than Teal rich-lister, Monique Ryan.

Teal independent Monique Ryan says she gave up her Qantas chairman’s lounge membership because of the “insidious activities of lobbyists” in such areas.

There is a growing list of teal independent MPs who have given up their lounge memberships – gifted by Qantas and Virgin to all parliamentarians – following enhanced scrutiny of travel perks.

The scandal erupted last week, with the publication of a book alleging that, as transport minister and then as PM, Anthony Albanese had sought luxury perks from Qantas boss Alan Joyce, including free flight upgrades and exclusive chairman’s lounge membership for his family. As transport minister, Albanese oversaw decisions that were extremely beneficial to Qantas.

More importantly, though, it just sticks in the craw of voters struggling with a government-induced cost-of-living crisis to see the same politicians grabbing luxury perks with both grubby hands.

Dr Ryan said that while some voters felt “discomfort and concern” about receiving elite job perks, she said she thought it was “not unreasonable” for politicians who travel frequently to have access to flight lounges but drew a distinction between those and elite lounges like the Qantas chairman’s lounge.

“The chairman’s lounge is a slightly different thing,” she said. “There is a perception that it’s a special perk that the airlines offer to politicians but also to senior public servants and they’re doing that for a reason.”

The reason is so obvious that even Mongo, to her credit, sees it and is willing to draw a line under it.

Dr Ryan said she gave up her memberships last year due to lobbying activity in the lounges.

“I accepted it after I was elected because it seemed like it came with the job and I knew I’d be travelling a lot and it was going to be a good opportunity to catch ministers in the lounge and also to work while in transit,” she told ABC RN.

“But it just began to sit poorly with me because I became aware after I was elected of just the insidious activities of lobbyists and lobbying activities in and around politicians.

“There are so many lobbyists who swarm the halls of Parliament House but they also do get to you in the lounges and they’re seeking to change our behaviours, our opinions and how we vote on things. So I became really concerned about the effect of lobbyists, about transparency in government, and the capacity for people to affect government decision-making and it just sat better with me to divest myself of the lounge membership.”

Mongo is just the spearhead of a small, but growing number of politicians who’re belatedly realising what a bad look it is. Just as John Howard in 2004 swiftly acted to pare back parliamentarians’ excessively generous pensions, some are starting to grit their teeth and admit that it’s time they had their perks trimmed, too.

Meanwhile, Albo’s just playing the same shifty games and digging the hole deeper for himself.

The push comes as teals MP ­Allegra Spender vowed to cancel her Qantas and Virgin VIP lounge memberships, as did independent MP Helen Haines, while the Prime Minister was unable to say if anyone in his office had ever ­inquired about a Qantas flight upgrade on his behalf.

“Not to my knowledge, no … You’re talking about a 30-year ­period,” he said. “I’ve been upfront about this, everything has been declared and I’ve had no upgrades as Prime Minister. But (I’ve received) one a year around about for every year that I’ve been in office, and that is less than many of my parliamentary colleagues.”

For as long as Airbus Albo briefly has his hands on the perks of office, he’s clearly determined to keep enjoying them.