It’s almost hard to get your head around the potential ramifications of the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission’s Federal Court action against Qantas, alleging the airline sold tickets on a staggering 8000 flights that it had already cancelled.

The Albanese government’s decision to side with Qantas and against the travelling public by blocking Qatar Airways from adding flights to Australia and bringing down fares looked baffling on Wednesday. But the ACCC revelations make the government’s decision to protect Qantas’ profits for rubbery “national interest” reasons look downright silly.