Joe Aston’s accusation, in his The Chairman's Lounge, that Labor Prime Minister Anthony Albanese was chummy with disgraced former Qantas CEO Alan Joyce, and received flight upgrades on request, is adding to the distrust the public already feels towards politicians.

Albanese’s excuse is that he declared these perks; his supporters have been quick to point to Coalition MPs who have also enjoyed upgrades. Opposition leader Peter Dutton has used the private jet of Australia’s richest billionaire Gina Rinehart on multiple occasions.

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The other-pollies-get-perks-too excuse doesn’t pass the pub test, just as my-mum-lived- in-public-housing didn’t take the sting from the headlines about the PM’s $4.3 million real estate purchase.

However, it is reinforcing the growing distrust of politicians and the political system.

A Grattan Institute submission to a 2020 Senate inquiry into nationhood, national identity and democracy reported that 74% of those surveyed believed politicians “look after themselves and their mates, at the expense........

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