Deputy PM says Qatar could be flying into Australia more
Richard Marles says Qatar Airways should make more use of existing flight paths into Australia, as the Coalition accuses Anthony Albanese of ‘running a protection racket’ for Qantas.
Deputy Prime Minister Richard Marles says Qatar Airways should make more use of its existing flight paths into Australia rather than receive additional access, as the Coalition accuses Anthony Albanese of “running a protection racket” for Qantas.
The Prime Minister will arrive back in Australia on Monday to face a parliamentary grilling over exactly when he found out about Transport Minister Catherine King’s decision to block Qatar doubling its flight path access into Australia, after he last week declared he found out three days after the decision was made on July 10.
Ms King said she told Mr Albanese about the decision before it was made public on July 18, but no one from the government will provide the exact date when Mr Albanese or his office was told.
With the government raising a multitude of separate reasons that contributed to the decision, Mr Marles on Sunday suggested that Qatar could already be bringing in more passengers in and out of Australia by utilising airports outside of the capital cities.
“They have unused access right now into second aviation markets,” Mr Marles said.
“Qatar have unused access right now. We want countries, airlines which have access to Australia to use their access to the fullest possible extent.”
Opposition transport spokeswoman Bridget McKenzie said it “beggars belief” Mr Albanese did not know about the decision ahead of it being made by Ms King.
She accused the government of blocking Qatar’s bid as a favour for Qantas, raising the company’s support for the Voice as a reason its requests may have been adhered to by Labor.
Mr Albanese, Ms King, Treasurer Jim Chalmers and Trade Minister Don Farrell are required to provide documents to the Senate by 5.30pm on Tuesday outlining the advice they received from their departments over the Qatar decision.
“This will be the test as to whether the Albanese government is prepared to be transparent about its decision making on a decision made in the ‘national interest’,” Senator McKenzie said.
“We now know this was not a cabinet decision.
“These documents will confirm or reject Minister King’s claims that she consulted widely with colleagues and the details of that consultation.
“Did she seek advice on benefits or risks of increasing competition from the Treasurer?
“If human rights was a key component of the reaction what was the advice from (the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade)?”
Senator McKenzie is also leading a Senate inquiry into the issue, with the probe to grill top officials from DFAT, the Department of Home Affairs, Treasury and the Australian Competition & Consumer Commission.
Also in parliament this week, the Indigenous voice is expected to be a leading topic of debate, given it is the last sitting week before the October 14 referendum.
The government’s proposed reforms to the family law system will be debated in the Senate, as will legislation to improve the culture of parliament as a working environment.
Hypocrisy, bad taste and other follies of 2024
On New Year’s Day 2024, morale was relatively high since the Year of the Dragon was expected to usher in a time of rational thinking. Not quite how it worked out.
Dutton nuclear plan ‘economic madness’
Jim Chalmers has fired the first salvo in what is likely to be a sustained campaign of economic attacks by Labor on Peter Dutton’s nuclear plan, to be driven by the Treasurer himself.