Editorial: Premier-less Cabinet will only fuel chatter

The optics from her most likely successor taking the helm without fuss will do nothing to hose down rampant speculation, writes the editor.

Whether Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk will remain in her job until the election today remains, quite literally, an each-way bet (the market being $1.70 yes, to $2.05 no).

One thing that will absolutely need to change if she is to survive is the critically important internal processes and mechanics of what currently appears a tired fourth-term government creaking to an election the bookies say it is odds-on to lose ($1.50 LNP, $2.50 Labor).

A clear sign of this clunkiness came yesterday when state cabinet met for the first time in six years without Ms Palaszczuk at its helm. And it was her deputy Steven Miles who let the cat out of the bag when he said that while cabinet has every other time been cancelled when the Premier is on leave, this time no “active decision” was made – and so the state’s ministers dutifully all followed the placeholder in their diaries and showed up anyway.

That a deputy leader as acting premier would chair such a meeting should be no big deal. The Premier’s tradition of not letting cabinet meet in her absence is what’s telling here.

The optics from her most likely successor taking the helm without fuss will do nothing to hose down the rampant speculation that Ms Palaszczuk may soon have to justify her position to her union masters.

It is the safest bet you could ever make that Mr Miles did not have to be asked twice to step in yesterday.

QANTAS BIG ENOUGH TO FLY WITHOUT HELP

That the Albanese government’s recent rejection of Qatar Airways’ application for extra flights into Australia will, by some estimates, cost Queensland’s tourism around $127m, is reason enough for the state government to query the decision – as Acting Premier Steven Miles did on Sunday.

And he therefore deserves full credit for his courageous stance, which of course puts him at odds with his federal Labor colleagues.

It is a rare thing for a state Labor government minister to openly challenge – albeit diplomatically – a federal Labor government decision. But we’d argue Mr Miles is on safe ground and has done a much better job reading the public mood on this than his counterparts in Canberra.

Certainly the feds have done a terrible job explaining why the decision was taken in the first place.

Federal Transport Minister Catherine King says it was made “in the national interest” but has failed to elaborate, with any clarity, just what she means. This has led to widespread speculation that this is really just a move to protect Qantas at the cost of reduced competition and airline capacity and, as a result, international airfares remaining higher than they need to be.

It has also prompted Brisbane-based Flight Centre to launch an advertising campaign demanding the federal government “let ’em fly”, which, with unquestionable logic, declares that “more seats drive down prices”.

While Mr Miles acknowledged it was the federal government’s call, he said the state government shared Flight Centre’s view – at least insofar as wanting “to see as many flights into Queensland as we possibly can”. And he added: “If it were up to us, they would be approved – but it’s not up to us.”

Mr Miles is also safe in the knowledge that there is suddenly little – at least external – political risk in picking a fight with Qantas these days.

Thanks to a series of rather spectacular own goals, the Flying Kangaroo has all of a sudden gone from the much-loved national icon that never really had to worry about its brand reputation to an under-siege corporation digging deep into the crisis management manuals.

The seeds of this discontent were sowed during last year’s season of cancelled flights, lost bags and impossibly long wait times for call centre assistance (and procedures for reclaiming flight credits that seemed curiously complicated).

But it seemed to have ridden that storm, and last month it even felt like Qantas would glide through the controversy over its apparently super-cosy relationship with a federal government that said a big fat no to a key competitor.

But the revelation last week that the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission would launch Federal Court action against Qantas for allegedly selling tickets for 8000 “ghost” – or cancelled flights – last year was a blow from which the airline will have to work hard to rebuild its reputation with consumers. An acknowledgment of that came when the Qantas board told the stock exchange yesterday that while not acknowledging guilt, “we openly acknowledge that our service standards fell well short and we sincerely apologise”.

Those problems aside, there is a simple reason why Minister Miles is right on this one: competition is good for business. It keeps prices sharp and companies on their toes. It also often leads to more revenue.

Over many years, Qantas has proven itself big and resilient enough to soar through the most turbulent of metaphorical skies. It needs no special favours from any government to survive and thrive.

Responsibility for election comment is taken by Chris Jones, corner of Mayne Rd & Campbell St, Bowen Hills, Qld 4006. Printed and published by NEWSQUEENSLAND (ACN 009 661 778). Contact details here