The flight upgrade row in Parliament has now snared Opposition leader Peter Dutton, who revealed a previous request to billionaire Gina Rinehart.
Dutton has previously declared flights offered by Rinehart’s company Hancock Prospecting, but early this week insisted he had never personally requested to use the mining magnate’s personal jet.
But yesterday, he was forced to backtrack when he admitted his staff had spoken to Rinehart’s office about using the aircraft to fly the Opposition Leader from Queensland to Sydney for a Bali memorial service.
READ MORE: How many politicians would pass the flight upgrade pub test?
Dutton said he asked to use the jet owned by Australia’s richest woman to save taxpayers the $40,000 fee of flying aboard an RAAF plane.
“I thought that was very expensive and the cheaper option for the taxpayer was for my office to speak to, to Mrs Rinehart’s office as to whether the plane might be available,” he said.
“That was at zero cost to the taxpayer.”
His comments came as MPs are sifting through their flight records and upgrades to make sure they’ve followed the rules in declaring everything.
Among them is Shadow Transport Minister Bridget McKenzie who said she will review her own travel records after she was challenged about not declaring all upgrades she may have received.
READ MORE: ‘It was all declared’: PM hits back over Qantas upgrades
Earlier this week she declared she had received a flight upgrade in 2018 when she was a government minister.
But McKenzie confirmed on Today this morning she was writing to three airlines to check if there were more.
“I was wrong earlier this week to be so emphatic … I don’t like to hold others to a standard I’m not prepared to subject to myself,” she said.
The furore began when the Coalition hit out at Prime Minister Anthony Albanese over claims around Qantas upgrades during his time as transport minister.
The PM has been accused of personally calling former Qantas chief executive Alan Joyce to receive the free upgrades for himself and his family in a book published by ex-Australian Financial Review columnist Joe Aston.
Albanese said he had never acted inappropriately and had declared every flight and upgrade he received. He also denied ever calling Joyce around upgrades.
links to content on ABC
9News
