Prime Minister Anthony Albanese has denied ever calling former Qantas boss Alan Joyce to personally request flight upgrades.

After days of pressure to come clean, Albanese’s office released a statement on Wednesday night denying claims that he would liaise directly with the airline chief for perks.

“The Prime Minister did not ever call Alan Joyce seeking an upgrade,” the statement said.

“All travel has been appropriately declared and is a matter of public record.”

However, attention has now turned to the detail of Albanese’s carefully chosen words.

Senator David Pocock noted that the statement did not rule out that Albanese had sought upgrades via other avenues.

“Were there text messages, emails?” Pocock said on ABC’s 7.30 on Wednesday night.

The crossbench senator questioned whether parliamentary standards that allowed politicians to secure perks as long as they were publicly declared was in line with public expectations.

“Is that up to standard?” he said.

“The next step I would like to see is actually saying, OK, we’re not holding ourselves to a high enough standard as politicians, let’s rethink the way that we do these declarations.”

Albanese has been under pressure this week after the release of a book detailing claims he used his connection with Joyce to receive 22 upgrades from Qantas.

Albanese held two press conferences rejecting the accusations, noting all his flights had been listed in accordance with rules for federal MPs.

Opposition Leader Peter Dutton has accused Albanese of breaching ministerial standards, which prevent politicians from seeking and encouraging gifts in a personal capacity.

Dutton raised questions about the relationship between Albanese and Joyce during the former CEO’s embattled final months.

“The Prime Minister had a very significant and now declared personal friendship with the CEO of Qantas, who ultimately was the beneficiary of the decision taken by the Prime Minister,” Dutton said.

The government was criticised in 2023 for blocking rival Qatar Airways from boosting its flights to Australia, and accused of protecting Qantas.

Joyce quit in September 2023, expediting his planned departure after the airline suffered a series of reputational blows under his leadership.

-with AAP