In a downright pathetic attempt to distract from his own problems, the Prime Minister played the man and not the ball today by falsely accusing the author of The Chairman’s Lounge of failing to disclose his past ties with the Liberal Party.

Joe Aston’s book revealed Anthony Albanese’s penchant for calling former Qantas CEO Alan Joyce to get free upgrades to business class on personal flights. On no less than 22 occasions.

Aston briefly worked for the Liberal Party a lifetime ago.

“I don’t see any statement that he is a former member of the Liberal Party,” Albanese said at a press conference today.

“I don’t see any statement that he is a former employee of Qantas.”

In fact, Aston’s new book makes both claims, from the first line of the very first page, as the author pointed out on social media, posting the page as proof.

Aston also rightly called the Prime Minister “beyond desperate”.

This descriptor, however, does not go far enough to condemn Albo’s attempt to turn his problems onto the author who exposed them.

It’s mind-boggling that Albo can’t see what he did wrong here. Instead, he goes on the attack and digs himself an even deeper hole, writes Peter van Onselen

Joe Aston’s book revealed Anthony Albanese’s penchant for calling former Qantas CEO Alan Joyce to get free upgrades to business class on personal flights. On no less than 22 occasions

It was wrong, dirty and shows how low this Prime Minister is willing to stoop when put under pressure.

Former radio host Neil Mitchell tweeted that the Prime Minister should apologize to Aston, which of course he won’t.

If Albo is too stubborn to admit to seeking an upgrade to business class when the Transport Minister was wrong, he certainly won’t answer the phone and apologize for his latest mistake.

Rather than reflect on his past conduct, the Prime Minister attempted to shoot the messenger.

This was a downright pathetic attempt at hijacking – the kind of action you would expect, frankly, from someone harassing an airline CEO for freebies despite the perception of a conflict of interest.

Albanese did it while he was Minister of Transport in charge of aviation, for heaven’s sake! He also did this when he was Labor’s shadow transport spokesperson and when he was leader of the opposition.

Aston revealed his brief period as a member of the Liberal Party, although he has long since forged a high-profile and successful career in journalism, skewering politicians on both sides of the major party divide.

No one could reasonably argue that Aston has been somewhat indifferent to liberals since he turned to journalism. Some of his most scathing comments have been directed at Scott Morrison, for example.

It’s mind-boggling that Albo can’t see what he did wrong here. Instead, he goes on the attack and digs himself an even deeper hole in the process.

Perhaps the Prime Minister doesn’t think he can admit his past mistakes and is suggesting reforms to ensure no one else does the same in the future. This would show that he is the type of person who needs definitive rules to not do bad things, otherwise that’s where his instincts lead him.

It’s really great to be one of Albo’s image specialists at the moment. Did one of them give him the Aston forward line? Or did he come up with this insane and demeaning idea all on his own?

No first-term government has lost a re-election bid since 1931. To maintain that streak, Labor’s prime image-mongers must find a way to get Albanese’s personal brand out of the toilet.

Make no mistake, this is precisely where we are right now. Comments like those made about Aston practically flush Albo’s brand straight down the drain.

I bet Team Albo can’t wait for next week’s US presidential election to draw attention away from this issue.

But the damage is done and will not be easy to forget.

Anthony Albanese pictured with his partner, former Qantas CEO Alan Joyce (right)

How do they sell a Prime Minister who has spent the last decade calling the CEO of Qantas to ask for an upgrade to business class on personal flights?

It’s incomprehensible that he doesn’t think this is wrong on any level. Even though he was Minister of Transport responsible for the aviation sector when he did it.

And what Albo did was most likely also a violation of the ministerial code of conduct of the time.

Kevin Rudd established the code for his ministers in December 2007. It stated that: “Ministers are required to exercise the functions of their public office without being affected by considerations of personal advantage.”

How does this square with Albo’s constant demands for flight upgrades while he was transport minister?

The code continues: “Ministers, in their official capacity, may therefore accept customary official gifts, hospitality, marks of appreciation and similar formal gestures in accordance with the relevant guidelines, but must not seek or encourage any form of gift in their personal domain. ability.’

It’s the last part about not seeking gifts in a personal capacity that likely sees Albo breaking the rules when he asks for flight upgrades on a personal vacation for him and his family.

And although the Prime Minister claims to have complied with disclosure requirements, we now know that he did not disclose the upgrades given to his wife at the time, as required by the rules.

Albo now poses a drag on Labor’s chances of winning the next election. Simply put, the government’s chances of victory would increase if he sacked himself and retired to his waterfront mansion recently purchased for $4.3 million.

But Albo won’t do that. Although he will be retired, he will be entitled to the exclusive Gold Travel Card, under the generous old-fashioned parliamentary pension scheme, which will guarantee him a prescribed number of business class flights each year.

And he won’t even need to shamelessly demean himself by calling the CEO every time he wants a free business class flight to ask for it (beg him?).