If Alan Joyce was the king of the asterisk – an enabling device in the most brazen lies by omission – then his successor as Qantas chief executive, Vanessa Hudson, is emerging as the queen of the footnote.

When Qantas had its arse surgically removed and handed to it by the High Court of Australia on Wednesday, the company didn’t lodge a statement with the Australian Securities Exchange. Qantas put out a press release, like it was upgrading the Qantas Club in Hobart or unveiling a new line of flammable socks in Business class.