Thylacine
7th Apr 2006, 06:54
By Stephen Mayne, (Crikey.com.au) humble Qantas Club member who has never been upgraded
It looks like we're onto something big with our examination of Qantas, the Chairman's Lounge and the allocation of perks and upgrades more generally by the national airline.
First, to the facts. There is no government payment for the Chairman's Lounge memberships offered to all Federal MPs as this is something which Qantas believes should be paid for by its shareholders voluntarily. It is worth noting that when Ministers travel, whatever entourage they have with them is also ushered into the Chairman's Lounge – something which Ministers exploit to the full as a source of glad-handing and patronage.
And the lurk extends down into the bureaucracy because Qantas influences not just Ministers but senior public servants in the same way through Chairman's Lounge memberships, free upgrades and frequent flyer points – which the public servants and politicians take with them as a generous free gift when they retire.
This also means that politicians and senior public servants have an incentive to travel more frequently – especially when it is always business class. The market value of all these benefits would run to many millions of dollars a year and the cost to Qantas shareholders would exceed $1 million.
This huge rort is not a hangover from when Qantas was government owned – in fact, the lobbying of Ministers was not something that the previously government-owned Qantas did to anything like the extent that the privately-owned Qantas does.
The standard entitlements for our political and senior public service class are business class travel within Australia but the best summary of all the benefits is not on any official departmental website because the highly secretive Finance Department provides none of these details online. However, our good friends at the Parliamentary Library did produce this fascinating guide.
Arrangements for ministerial travel in Australia are handled in the same way as those for MPs and Senators. However, overseas travel comes under prime ministerial control as you can see towards the end of the official Ministerial Guidelines.
In terms of the huge Qantas frequent flyer rort, some Ministers have accumulated millions of points over the years and there are in effect no restrictions on them using these for their own purposes after they leave the Parliament. There is a very weak guideline encouraging them to use up the points but it is almost universally ignored as The Age reported last year.
So what does Qantas get in return for its investment? Government favours of course. No ACCC chairman has had a concerted go at Quantas's regular abuse of market power which has helped send half a dozen airlines out of business over the past 15 years.
And when Ansett collapsed, it was quite outrageous how the PM's Ansett Taskforce tolerated Qantas making a successful grab for those vital extra landing slots and gates at Sydney Airport, giving it a huge advantage over its rivals. Crikey has been told that policy deliberations inside the taskforce at the time were influence by the common perception that "the Prime Minister likes Qantas". He likes chairman Margaret Jackson so much that she was even offered the keys to Yarralumla.
And why wouldn't the Howards like our national airline when you consider the duchessing that our first lady receives. The PM usually travels in the government jet, but his family members are treated better than royalty – every whim catered to, nothing too good for Janette who, if she travels, tends to have a charming Qantas PR person assigned to look after her.
One isolated upgrade for the Costello kids sounds like it could just be the tip of the iceberg. Has the PM ever disclosed family benefits from Qantas and who paid for what when Richard Howard headed to the US in 2004 to work on George W Bush's re-election campaign? Hmmm, we might just be onto something here.
All of this barely scratches the surface of what poured in yesterday so keep the tips and feedback coming to [email protected]
It looks like we're onto something big with our examination of Qantas, the Chairman's Lounge and the allocation of perks and upgrades more generally by the national airline.
First, to the facts. There is no government payment for the Chairman's Lounge memberships offered to all Federal MPs as this is something which Qantas believes should be paid for by its shareholders voluntarily. It is worth noting that when Ministers travel, whatever entourage they have with them is also ushered into the Chairman's Lounge – something which Ministers exploit to the full as a source of glad-handing and patronage.
And the lurk extends down into the bureaucracy because Qantas influences not just Ministers but senior public servants in the same way through Chairman's Lounge memberships, free upgrades and frequent flyer points – which the public servants and politicians take with them as a generous free gift when they retire.
This also means that politicians and senior public servants have an incentive to travel more frequently – especially when it is always business class. The market value of all these benefits would run to many millions of dollars a year and the cost to Qantas shareholders would exceed $1 million.
This huge rort is not a hangover from when Qantas was government owned – in fact, the lobbying of Ministers was not something that the previously government-owned Qantas did to anything like the extent that the privately-owned Qantas does.
The standard entitlements for our political and senior public service class are business class travel within Australia but the best summary of all the benefits is not on any official departmental website because the highly secretive Finance Department provides none of these details online. However, our good friends at the Parliamentary Library did produce this fascinating guide.
Arrangements for ministerial travel in Australia are handled in the same way as those for MPs and Senators. However, overseas travel comes under prime ministerial control as you can see towards the end of the official Ministerial Guidelines.
In terms of the huge Qantas frequent flyer rort, some Ministers have accumulated millions of points over the years and there are in effect no restrictions on them using these for their own purposes after they leave the Parliament. There is a very weak guideline encouraging them to use up the points but it is almost universally ignored as The Age reported last year.
So what does Qantas get in return for its investment? Government favours of course. No ACCC chairman has had a concerted go at Quantas's regular abuse of market power which has helped send half a dozen airlines out of business over the past 15 years.
And when Ansett collapsed, it was quite outrageous how the PM's Ansett Taskforce tolerated Qantas making a successful grab for those vital extra landing slots and gates at Sydney Airport, giving it a huge advantage over its rivals. Crikey has been told that policy deliberations inside the taskforce at the time were influence by the common perception that "the Prime Minister likes Qantas". He likes chairman Margaret Jackson so much that she was even offered the keys to Yarralumla.
And why wouldn't the Howards like our national airline when you consider the duchessing that our first lady receives. The PM usually travels in the government jet, but his family members are treated better than royalty – every whim catered to, nothing too good for Janette who, if she travels, tends to have a charming Qantas PR person assigned to look after her.
One isolated upgrade for the Costello kids sounds like it could just be the tip of the iceberg. Has the PM ever disclosed family benefits from Qantas and who paid for what when Richard Howard headed to the US in 2004 to work on George W Bush's re-election campaign? Hmmm, we might just be onto something here.
All of this barely scratches the surface of what poured in yesterday so keep the tips and feedback coming to [email protected]