Deputy Opposition Leader Sussan Ley has defended Opposition Leader Peter Dutton against criticism for his decision to request a private flight from billionaire Gina Rinehart, saying the government should have paid for his travel to the Bali bombing memorial.
“I think it’s pretty disappointing that Labor is going after Peter Dutton because of a flight to the Bali bombing memorial after the government refused him a government flight,” Ley told Seven’s Sunrise.
Opposition Leader Peter Dutton and deputy Sussan Ley.Credit: Alex Ellinghausen
“They should’ve supported him going to the Bali bombing memorial.”
She quickly tried to pivot the issue back to the PM’s upgrades.
“The issue here is that we’ve got a serious journalist, Joe Aston, who is saying that the prime minister solicited, sought upgrades to his personal travel while he was that one person in the parliament who was in charge of regulating the laws around airlines.”
But Ley was pushed on the potential flight upgrade transparency issues within the Coalition, namely opposition transport spokesperson Bridget McKenzie, who has requested information from airlines after reports accused her of receiving undeclared flight upgrades earlier this year.
“[McKenzie] has asked the airlines and been very transparent and upfront about seeking advice for something she says she may not have a complete recollection of,” Ley said.
Loading
“She’s asked the questions, she’s waiting for the reply.”
Host Natalie Barr pushed Ley on the potential hypocrisy, responding “that’s exactly what Albo has been doing all week”, referring to the PM’s defence that his staff needed time to issue a full denial because of the decades of documents and exchanges.
“No, he’s been avoiding the question completely. Six days, six different answers,” Ley said.
“This is something we need to take further because it’s not good enough. We had his carefully curated set of one-word answers. This is not good enough. I would say to [the Labor cabinet] you don’t need to go in to bat for Upgrade Albo and his dodgy deals. He wouldn’t do the same for you.”
Read the full article here
