Senior public servants have been told to disclose “exclusive memberships” to invitation-only airline lounges, amid intense speculation over the influence Qantas wields through its prestigious Chairman’s Lounge.
The Australian Public Service Commission (APSC), a government agency within the Department of Prime Minister and Cabinet which oversees public servants, has updated its guidance for agency heads relating to gifts and benefits, with the bulk of the changes relating to airline lounges and memberships.
The previous guidance for what gifts need to be declared stated “examples include tangible gifts, free or discounted travel or accommodation, entertainment, hospitality, … discounts or other preferential treatment”.
On Friday, the APSC updated its guidance to add in “exclusive memberships such as airline lounges or other clubs or venues”.
It also added a new section into its guidance about reporting requirements for airline lounge memberships – with the advice appearing to also cover Virgin Australia’s Beyond Lounge which rivals Qantas’s Chairman’s Lounge.
“In circumstances where agency heads are gifted airline lounge memberships (including those which are invitation-only), these must be recorded in their agency’s gifts and benefits register annually or when circumstances change, such as a new or cancelled membership,” the guidance states.
Qantas has refused to disclose the membership list of its Chairman’s Lounge, even in the face of questioning in recent months, after reports that Anthony Albanese’s son Nathan had been offered a membership.
The invitation-only club – reserved for politicians, public servants, judges, top business executives and other prominent Australians – are treated as a level above even the highest-status lounges that frequent flyers gain access to.
In addition to complimentary fine dining and drinks, the Chairman’s Lounge offers members privacy from the general public, as well as free upgrades and flight flexibility.
Membership cannot be bought or earned. All federal MPs and senators are given access for themselves and a guest, with the membership list reviewed every two years.
The special treatment for politicians has raised questions about governmental decisions benefiting Qantas – such as the decision to block rival Qatar Airways’ request to almost double its capacity.
Critics have argued Chairman’s Lounge privileges mean politicians are out of touch with the deteriorating quality of service that everyday customers have reported. Qantas has become the most complained about company to the consumer watchdog for the past two years.
Qantas told a Senate inquiry earlier this year that it had extended invitations to secretaries and deputy secretaries of federal departments, agency chairs, CEOs and commissioners, as well as senior military officials.
Guardian Australia revealed last month that some of Australia’s top regulators – including the ACCC boss Gina Cass-Gottlieb and corporate watchdog chair Joseph Longo – are also Chairman’s Lounge members.
While the updated APSC advice applies to government agency heads, a number of MPs and senators have in recent months handed back their Chairman’s Lounge access.
Two senators, the independent senator David Pocock and the Greens’ Barbara Pocock, updated their registers of interest to reveal they were no longer members of the invite-only airport lounge.
Greens MPs Stephen Bates and Elizabeth Watson-Brown have also relinquished their memberships, as has the independent MP Monique Ryan.
The Labor senator Tony Sheldon, a former chief of the Transport Workers Union and fierce critic of Qantas, is also not a member; nor is Greens MP Max Chandler-Mather.
