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• Comment Link Wednesday, 27 November 2024 11:43 posted by ดอกไม้แสดงความยินดี

  The existence of an exclusive hideaway for the country's
  movers and shakers where secret deals were done in private luxury first exploded into the public eye back in 2007.
  
  
  Back then, the fact that Qantas spent hundreds of thousands of
  dollars wining and dining the nation's political elite in ultra-exclusive VIP lounges was relatively unknown.
  
  It was a time before Alan Joyce's tenure as the CEO of Qantas had even started, when he was boss of the comparatively lowly budget airline, Jetstar.
  
  
  And unlike Anthony Albanese's current slide in the polls leading up to an election in next year, the prospects back in 2007 were rosy for Labor. 
  
  The election that was looming was the 'Kevin 07' landslide that would see Kevin Rudd become prime minister and
  John Howard lose his own seat. 
  
  The issue which blew open the 'guilty secret' of the Chairman's
  Lounge then wasn't about a prime minister's privileges, although John Howard and Kevin Rudd
  were certainly both members during their terms as PM. 
  
  But when broadcaster Steve Price - himself a long time Chairman's Lounge member - revealed a politically charged remark made within the club's hallowed walls, the cat was out of the bag.
  
  
  The political revelation - a comment by ex-rock star turned senator Peter Garrett that Labor
  would change the policies it campaigned on if it won government
  - did not deter his party from romping in on election day.
  
  
  In contrast, the scandal currently engulfing Anthony Albanese
  about his Chairman's Lounge membership and that of his ex-wife Carmel Tebbutt, and their son Nathan could bring
  down the prime minister.   
  
  
  
  
  The exclusive Qantas Chairman's Lounge (above) has been a well-kept secret for years,
  but it exploded into the public conscience in 2007 as the result of a political furore
  
  
  
  
  
  Broadcaster Steve Price revealed he had been a Chairman's Lounge
  member since 2002 during a row before the 2007 election won by Kevin Rudd which let the cat out of the bag about
  the VIP club
  
  The existence of the lounge was so little known back in 2007 that in defending
  his disclosure of Garrett's remark, Steve Price had to explain what the private enclave
  actually was.
  
  In a first person piece he wrote: 'The Chairman's
  Lounge is a separate frequent flyers lounge away from the crowded normal Qantas
  Club. 
  
  'As its name implies, the people given access to it are approved by the Qantas chairman, Margaret
  Jackson. 
  
  'I have been a Chairman's Lounge member since 2002.'
  
  In his opinion piece, Price also revealed TV entertainment reporter Richard Wilkins
  was also a member of lounge.
  
  Wilkins had also been inside at the time and was his only witness to
  the remark Price said Garrett had made.
  
  Other prominent media figures, such as 60 Minutes reporters, actors
  and performers, and well-known writers and sports people are
  said to be among the lounge's exclusive membership of around 6000.
  
  
  
  Price went on to defend himself for reporting what some claimed was a confidential conversation in a
  private place, but which exposed him to criticism over his own membership for
  allegedly promoting Qantas on his radio show.
  
  
  
  
  Back in 2007, Alan Joyce (left) was boss of the comparatively lowly budget airline
  Jetstar, and then Qantas CEO Geoff Dixon (right)
  had the power over who made the cut to the Chairman's Lounge
  
  
  
  
  
  One observer has described the relationship bet6ween leading
  politicians such as PM Anthony Albanese and the former
  Qantas CEO Alan Joyce (above) as 'alarmingly cosy'
  
  'Why on earth is Qantas giving a controversial shock jock membership of its Chairman's Lounge, which is
  supposedly to enable our elite politicians and business leaders some privacy from the hoi polloi?' demanded Crikey reporter Stephen Mayne at the time.
  
  
  'The Chairman's Lounge is meant to be all about discretion and
  confidentiality,' he said, accusing Price of breaking 'a confidence'.
  
  
  The following year, before he was succeeded as Qantas CEO by Alan Joyce, Geoff Dixon was the sole gatekeeper of entry into the club's hushed confines.
  
  
  Qantas Chairman's Lounge membership was 'so exclusive that you have to be personally invited by the airline's chieftain',
  Nine newspapers reported in 2008.
  
  'A marvellous benefit of lounge membership is that the mega rich and powerful avoid having to
  mingle with the riffraff who will be travelling cattle class.
  
  
  'Having said that, members of the ultra-exclusive club have included Pauline
  Hanson.
  
  'Another lounge member is Brad Cooper, who
  is currently enjoying a prolonged exposure to cattle-class in Kirkconnell Correctional Centre.' (Cooper
  was the former HIH insurance executive jailed for eight years on fraud and bribery
  offences).
  
  
  
  
  Membership of the elite lounge is confined to about 6000 Australians including politicians from both sides, senior public servants, TV stars
  and actors
  
  
  
  
  
  
  The 'scandal' currently engulfing Anthony Albanese
  about his Chairman's Lounge membership and that of his ex-wife Carmel Tebbutt, and
  their son Nathan could bring down the prime minister (above the PM with partner Jodie Haydon and ex-Qantas CEO Alan Joyce)
  
  The report noted that politicians declaring membership of the lounge
  'which most of their spouses got too' in their pecuniary interests that year included Liberal MPs of the day, Philip Ruddock, Bob Baldwin and Andrew Southcott.
  
  
  
  Labor MPs with lounge privileges included Tanya Plibersek, Bob McMullan, and Sharon Grierson, and Martin Ferguson declared a
  bottle of Grange hermitage as a gift from Qantas, as
  did Liberal, Christopher Pyne.
  
  Asked if all MPs got the captain's pick from Geoff Dixon, the airline's spokesperson  told Nine: 'We like to retain a bit of
  mystery. Membership is by invitation only and it is reviewed periodically.'
  
  Fast forward to today, and nearly every single federal
  politician in the country has accepted free membership of the controversial, invitation-only lounge with
  one even describing it as an 'entitlement'. 
  
  Qantas and the Albanese government recently denied the 'very, very high-end perk'
  gives the airline a disproportionate level of influence over the country's politicians.
  
  
  They were commenting ahead of the launch of the new book The Chairman's Lounge by former Australian Financial
  Review columnist Joe Aston, which has stirred up the controversy. 
  
  A Daily Mail Australia audit of the members' interest registers - in both Federal
  Parliament's House of Representatives and the Senate
  - revealed almost 93 per cent of the nation's leaders have been 'gifted' membership to the lavish, all-inclusive lounge.
  
  
  Mr Albanese has defended himself by saying he declared all his benefits in pecuniary interest statements. 
  
  At a press conference this week, he repeated that all of
  his upgrades 'have been declared as appropriate. What's
  appropriate is transparency.'  
  
  Apart from the PM, members include every one of his 22-person Cabinet, his seven-person Outer Ministry and all 12 assistant ministers.
  
  
  
  
  
  
  PM Anthony Albanese and every member of his 22-person Cabinet, his seven-person Outer Ministry and all 12 assistant ministers are members of
  the exclusive Chairman's Lounge
  
  
  
  
  
  Entry to the country's six opulent VIP clubs are suitably discreet,
  but once inside, the designer lounges offer free
  à la carte fine dining, table service and a discreet
  army of dedicated lounge attendants
  
  On the Coalition side of parliament, Opposition Leader Peter Dutton, deputy
  leader David Littleproud and former deputy Barnaby Joyce are also among
  the swathes of politicians who have disclosed they have
  taken up free membership to the contentious club.
  
  
  Bill Shorten is a member, Tanya Plibersek is still a member and so is
  Teal MP, Zali Steggall.
  
  Last year it was reported that Australian Competition and Consumer Commission chairwoman Gina Cass-Gottlieb and Australian Securities
  and Investments Commission chairman Joe Longo and some of their deputies are members of the Chairman's Lounge despite
  regulating the airline. 
  
  Senior public servants in the club included Department of Prime
  Minister and Cabinet secretary Glyn Davis, deputy secretaries Nadine Williams, Liz Hefren-Webb, Rachel
  Bacon and ambassador to Beijing, Scott Dewar.
  
  Other Qantas freebies bestowed on members include numerous
  business class flight upgrades, model Qantas aircrafts, frequent flyer points, and tickets to sporting and entertainment events. 
  
  Touted as 'the most exclusive club in the country', membership to the Chairman's Lounge is
  still veiled in secrecy.
  
  
  
  
  The new book The Chairman's Lounge by former Australian Financial Review columnist Joe
  Aston (above) has stirred up the controversy 
  
  
  
  
  
  Australian Competition and Consumer Commission chairwoman Gina Cass-Gottlieb and Australian Securities and Investments Commission chairman Joe
  Longo are members despite regulating the airline
  
  Even the entrances to each of the country's six opulent VIP clubs - in Sydney, Melbourne, Brisbane,
  Adelaide, Canberra and Perth airports - are suitably discreet.
  
  
  Once inside, however, the designer lounges are noticeably luxurious, with free à
  la carte fine dining, table service, a decadent selection of wines and Champagne and
  a discreet army of dedicated lounge attendants.
  
  
  Virgin Airlines has its own version of the VIP enclave,
  the 'Beyond' lounge. 
  
  Only a handful of federal politicians have relinquished their membership to
  the Qantas Chairman's Lounge in the wake of the furore.
  
  
  The select few to take a principled stand on the issue include South Australian senator
  Barbara Pocock and former Wallabies star turned ACT senator David Pocock, along with MPs Stephen Bates,
  Queensland Green Elizabeth Watson-Brown, and Monique Ryan,
  a Teal from Victoria.
  
  Geoffrey Watson SC, a former counsel assisting the Independent Commission Against Corruption and a director of the Centre
  for Public Integrity, has implored all politicians and policymakers to
  follow suit.
  
  'There are certain positions in life where you cannot take Chairman's Club membership,' he said.
  
  
  
  'You're taking public money for the job and you are supposed to represent the public.
  Why not sit with them while you're waiting for a plane?'
  
  
  QantasAnthony Albanese
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• Comment Link Wednesday, 27 November 2024 11:11 posted by ดอกไม้สำหรับขอโทษ

  Abbie Chatfield has revealed the sexual act she would never engage in with her
  partner, Adam Hyde.
  
  The FBoy Island star, 29, recently opened up about the launch of her 'kink kit' sex toys and admitted that when it comes to bedroom fun, it's strictly a two-person affair.
  
  
  While she does fantasise about having a ménage à trois,
  Abbie admitted that it's something she could never actually go through
  with.
  
  'I have a fantasy about, like, seeing my partner f*** someone else,
  ' she told News Corp.
  
  'But I think I know in my heart that I don't actually want to see
  it. I just want to talk about it like, that's something
  that I find hot.
  
  'But in reality, would I want to see that? Maybe, probably not.'
  
  
  
  
  Abbie Chatfield has revealed the sex act she refuses to do
  with partner Adam Hyde
  
  
  
  
  
  While she does fantasise about having a ménage à trois, Abbie
  admitted that it's something she could never actually go through with.
  Pictured with boyfriend Adam Hyde 
  
  'Like, whenever we get to a point where we're like, "let's have a threesome!", I'm like,
  "I don't actually know if I'm gonna want to see that",'
  she continued.
  
  Elsewhere in the discussion, Abbie revealed that her Peking Duk
  frontman partner was the perfect 'product tester' for the kit.
  
  
  
  'He had feedback about the length of the flogger,' she said, referring to the kit's double-ended paddle.
  
  
  'It was a little bit too short after using that on me.'
  
  Abbie's racy admissions come after she recently urged women to withhold sex from their Donald Trump-supporting partners.
  
  
  
  In a lengthy Instagram post, in the wake of Donald Trump's victory over Kamala Harris in the US presidential election, the reality star told women they should refuse to date or have
  sex which anyone who supports his victory. 
  
  Alongside a series of posts from her story, she
  wrote: 'IF THEY WANT TO TAKE AWAY REPRODUCTIVE FREEDOMS THEN DO NOT LET THEM ENTER YOUR BODY.'   
  
  'I'm done with the idea that men who support Trump (or Andrew Tate) are just
  'lost' and we should have empathy for them. They are gleefully
  posting threats of violence.'
  
  
  
  
  'I have a fantasy about, like, seeing my partner f*** someone else,' she told News Corp 
  
  
  
  
  
  Elsewhere in the discussion, Abbie revealed that her Peking Duk frontman partner was the perfect 'product tester' for
  the kit 
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  Read More
  
  Abbie Chatfield's boyfriend shares photo of them kissing to celebrate her 'kink kit' launch
  
  
  'They are happy that women's rights are going to be stripped.
  They are laughing at our tears. They already have a SLOGAN in 'your body my choice'.'
  
  Abbie then told women to not let men with these views 'near
  you' because they are 'dangerous'.
  
  'Ask them about their views! They are dangerous and they don't
  deserve your presence, emotional or domestic labour.
  If your partner was in support of Trump OR
  EVEN APATHETIC, STOP DOING ANYTHING FOR THEM THAT PATRIARCHY EXPECTS OF YOU!!
  They are NOT entitled to your body or time.
  
  'If they see you as a human they wouldn't need this explained to them.
  DUMP. THEM.'
  
  She also claimed Trump's presidency 'will bring more violence towards women as men do not care about us'.
  
  
  
  'So stop giving them the perks of a relationship with you.
  It isn't your job. Be with a man who can take care of himself, who won't expect sex and who actually sees you as a human being.'
  
  Abbie's comments echo sentiments from the 4B movement which sprung up in South Korea in the mid
  2010's.
  
  
  The radical feminist movement, calls for proponents to not date, get married,
  have sex, or have children with men.
  
  Following the US presidential election some
  American women declared solidarity with the movement
  is a form of protest against Donald Trump, and his role in the
  overturning of Roe v. Wade.
  
  
  
  
  Abbie's racy admissions come after she recently urged women to withhold sex from
  their Donald Trump-supporting partners
  
  
  
  InstagramKamala HarrisDonald Trump
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