Should public servants keep their status perks?

The verdict is in: after a review by the Department of Finance, government travellers will be allowed to continue to claim airline status credits on flights for official business, though taking advantage of bonus credit offers is definitively out. It's a victory for Qantas, which insists that letting bureaucrats take advantage of perks like lounge access and baggage allowances saves taxpayers money – and a setback for Virgin, which argues that the policy unfairly favours Qantas and incentivises taking more expensive flights on the public purse. On this week's Australian Aviation Podcast, Jake and David dive back into the debate around public servants' airline benefits and ask whether Finance got the balance right. Plus, a new report warns that cyber-criminals could use drones to hack into Australia's critical infrastructure – but how can a pineapple be used maliciously, and what do raspberry pies have to do with it?

You can listen to Should public servants keep their status perks? online on Radio and Podcast. Open the player on this page to stream the available audio.

Should public servants keep their status perks? is an episode from Australian Aviation Podcast Network by Momentum Media.

This episode is 48:59 long.

This episode was published on Jan 28, 2026.

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