For the Qantas chief, picking and choosing one’s social issue can be a fraught exercise

Mark Latham points his finger at Qantas, Andrew Clennell reports, The Australian online, Thursday:

One Nation NSW leader Mark Latham has accused Qantas chief executive Alan Joyce and other corporate sponsors of Rugby Australia of forcing Israel Folau’s sacking in comments under parliamentary privilege … Qantas declined to make further comment beyond Mr Joyce’s statement last month, when he said: “We don’t sponsor something to get involved in controversy. That’s not part of the deal. We expect our partners to take the appropriate action. It’s their issue, they have to deal with it.”

Rachel Baxendale and Paige Taylor, The Australian, May 11, 2017:

Qantas boss Alan Joyce says he is going to press charges against the same-sex opponent who hit him in the face with a lemon meringue pie … Mr Joyce said the event would not stop him expressing his views on social and corporate community issues. “I have every intention to continue to be vocal on those social and community issues. That event is not going to have that desired outcome. It’s important for our shareholders, our employees, and our customers. It’s called good corporate social responsibility. Qantas has always spoken up on gender issues, on LGBTI issues, on indigenous issues, and we will continue to do so and no attempt at bullying us into suppressing our voice will work … Democracy works when people respect each other’s voices, are allowed to talk, be vocal, allowed to say what we believe.”

The ABC, August 25, 2017:

While announcing Qantas’s annual financial results, Mr Joyce, who is openly gay, said Australia’s marriage laws did “not represent the Australia I know”. (He) also took the opportunity to push other companies to campaign for same-sex marriage, as “that’s what good businesses do”. Mr Joyce went on to say he would be putting a significant amount of his own money into the yes campaign and Qantas would also be campaigning hard … “I think corporate Australia, if it’s to fix the reputations it has out there, needs to be vocal on social issues. That’s what good businesses do.”

Peter Kurti, Centre for Independent Studies, April 18:

It’s hard to believe that Qantas chief Alan Joyce — the … public face of corporate social engineering in Australia and a lead campaigner for marriage equality — has become worked up about those tweets (and is reportedly urging Rugby Australia to take action, at a time when its Qantas sponsorship is being renegotiated) simply because he is annoyed that Israel Folau is allegedly in breach of his legal contract.

The Canberra Times, May 9:

Alan Joyce has vowed the airline will continue to campaign on social issues, saying its stance has been vindicated by strong public support. “What you see in any … surveys that have been done on trust, is people want strong leadership and authentic leadership, whether it’s in business, in politics, in all forms of life,” Mr Joyce told AAP.

Anglican Bishop of Armidale Rick Lewers, The Armidale Express, May 29:

This fiasco has not done … Qantas any favours. Alan Joyce was at least in the public eye a key promoter of businesses getting involved in the politics of sexuality. It was Mr Joyce who had threatened to pull the plug on the … partnership with Rugby Australia. In that moment, Mr Joyce exposed his company to the worst kind of hypo­crisy … This is the same airline enjoying contracts with Middle Eastern airlines whose treatment of women and homosexuals is repugnant … (the) company that would … (silence) one of rugby’s greatest players.

The Guardian Australia, April 18 last year:

Sponsors come and go in sport, but in the current economic climate and general malaise of rugby in this country the loss of a sponsor such as Qantas, reportedly worth $4 million a year, would be financially crippling.