30 Oct 2024

Australia: PM's free flight strife, Covid inquiry

From Nine To Noon, 9:45 am on 30 October 2024
File photo of Qantas chief executive Alan Joyce (C), Western Australian Premier Mark McGowan (R) and Anthony Albanese opening a new transit lounge at Perth Airport on March 24, 2018.

File photo of Qantas chief executive Alan Joyce (C), Western Australian Premier Mark McGowan (R) and Anthony Albanese opening a new transit lounge at Perth Airport on March 24, 2018. Photo: GREG WOOD

Australia correspondent Annika Smethurst looks at why Prime Minister Anthony Albanese's free - but declared - upgrades on Qantas flights when he was Transport Minister is attracting so much scrutiny.

An inquiry into Australia's Covid response is critical into the pandemic's early response, finding decision-making was secretive and that delays in vaccine procurement and rollout cost the economy an estimated $31b.

And Annika shares a cautionary tale about retrieving a fallen phone.

Annika Smethurst is political editor at The Age