Housing Minister Clare O’Neil has defended her colleague Catherine King’s decision to accept a lifetime membership Qantas’s top-tier membership as acceptable given the amount of travel she has undertaken throughout her time in politics.
The Australian Financial Review reported King had updated her register of interests yesterday afternoon to declare a “gift” from the national airline. The benefit gives King lifetime access to first and business class Qantas lounges, priority upgrades and support from Qantas’s VIP services team — a privilege accessible only to top-tier frequent travellers.
Pressed on whether the matter passed the pub test, O’Neil said King, whose federal portfolios include infrastructure and transport, had travelled an “unbelievable amount” during her 25-years in politics, claiming she had spent “about a third of that time on the road”.
“This is how this is a membership that Qantas gives to people who are the most frequent flyers in the country, and that’s how this has transpired,” O’Neil told Nine’s Today earlier this morning.
“At the end of the day, we have a system in federal parliament where we have to declare all of our interests. The reason we’re discussing this right now is because Catherine King has done the right thing.”
Liberal frontbencher Michaelia Cash also declined to criticise King, noting federal politicians “do a lot of flying”.
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