Qantas chair says involvement in the Voice was ‘too far’

A national airline executive has criticised corporate Australia for their involvement in social issues, saying the pendulum has “swung too far”.

Corporate Australia “did itself no favours” by campaigning so vocally in the 2023 Voice referendum, Qantas chair John Mullen says.

There has been an increased involvement of Australian corporations in divisive social issues and while it is well-intentioned, Mr Mullen said “the pendulum has maybe swung too far”.

In his keynote address to the Australian Institute of Company Directors on Tuesday, he urged corporate Australia to “pick its battles”.

Qantas chair John Mullen says corporate Australia needs to “pick its battles” when it comes to social issues. Picture: NewsWire / Aaron Francis

Mr Mullen spoke about how company engagement with diversity, equity and inclusion and environmental, social and governance improved the performance and value of corporations.

But he warned that companies could appear to be virtue signalling or trying to present themselves better by aligning with social issues.

“If (corporations) can suddenly drop the initiatives again and run like lemmings in the other direction … then one would be forgiven for wondering whether they ever really believed in the programs in the first place,” Mr Mullen said.

During the Voice referendum, Qantas under former chief executive Alan Joyce rolled out livery with the Yes23 campaign logo on three aircraft: a Qantas Boeing 737, a QantasLink Dash 8 Turboprop and a Jetstar Airbus A320.

The move showed the national airline “literally flying the flag” in support of the Voice, Mr Joyce said.

“Every major city, every major town will get to see this message,” he said.

Qantas released new livery on three aircraft to show the corporation’s support of the Voice referendum. Picture: Qantas

The airline was one of many corporations that stood behind the Voice.

The nation’s top 20 public companies all either said yes to the vote or remained neutral.

But Mr Mullen said corporate involvement may not have positively contributed to voter experience because “people don’t like to be told by others what they should think or they should do”.

“I think that many people from all walks of life saw corporate Australia’s position as lecturing and telling people what to do from a position of assumed moral superiority,” he said.

Along with corporate Australia’s support was a plethora of donations, the largest of which was from the Paul Ramsay Foundation at $7.01m.

Other donors to the Yes campaign included the Givia Pty Ltd ATF Yajilarra Trust ($4.45m), ANZ ($2.45m), Woodside Energy ($2.18m), Commonwealth Bank ($2.05m) and Westpac ($2.948m).

Wesfarmers, BHP and Rio Tinto donated about $2m and Woolworths gave $1.56m.

The No campaign received smaller donations primarily contributed by individuals.

The financial disclosures were published by the Australian Electoral Commission six months after the referendum.

The Australian Electoral Commission revealed the gap between the amount spent on campaigning for both sides of the Voice referendum. Picture: NewsWire / David Crosling

It revealed that the Yes campaign spent close to $55m on campaigning, while the No campaign spent more than $25m.

The Australians for Indigenous Constitutional Recognition, which ran the Yes23 campaign, received $47.5m in donations and spent $43.8m. The University of NSW, where the Uluru Statement from the Heart is housed, received $11.2m and spent $10.3m.

For the No campaign, Australians for Unity spent $11.1m and Advance Australia spent $10.3m despite only receiving $1.3m in donations.

Mr Mullen said people in his position should separate their personal beliefs from what is best for the company.

“Going forward, corporate Australia should pick its battles carefully and not try to pick winners and losers or throw its weight behind every cause that comes along,” Mr Mullen said.

“That is what we have an elected government for.”

Originally published as Qantas chair says involvement in the Voice was ‘too far’