Anthony Albanese stands by declaration he was unaware of Qatar decision
A five-day window has emerged as the timeframe on when the PM became aware of the decision to reject more flights for Qatar Airways.
Anthony Albanese was told about his government’s decision to reject more flight paths for Qatar Airways after he spoke to Virgin Australia about the issue on July 13 but before it was made public on July 18, government sources say.
A window of five days in mid-July has emerged as the timeframe on when the Prime Minister first became aware of the decision, after Transport Minister Catherine King repeatedly refused to tell parliament when she first informed Mr Albanese.
The Australian understands Mr Albanese is standing by his statement in the House of Representatives this week when he declared he was unaware of Ms King’s decision when he discussed the issue with Virgin chief executive Jane Hrdlicka on July 13.
Asked repeatedly in parliament on Thursday to explain when she informed Mr Albanese of her July 10 decision, Ms King refused to provide an exact date.
She instead said Mr Albanese was told prior to the decision first being reported on July 18.
The clarified timeline comes as Defence Minister Richard Marles defended Ms King’s choice not to tell Mr Albanese until after the decision to block the flights was made, branding the move as “business as usual”.
Mr Marles on Friday said it was normal for cabinet ministers to make decisions in their portfolio without informing the Prime Minister.
“It has been business as usual and the decision around Qantas has been business as usual,” he told Nine Network’s Today.
“I mean we’ve got a Transport Minister who made the decision that transport ministers make – and I get that normal cabinet process is going to be confusing for Peter (Dutton), given they had a prime minister who was literally doing everyone’s job – but transport ministers making these kind of decisions in the national interest is how the government and the country should be run.”
Mr Dutton on Friday ramped up attacks on Ms King, saying her refusal to divulge details about her decision-making “just doesn’t pass the pub test”.
After a week where parliament was dominated by Labor’s decision to block the extra flights, the Opposition Leader said Australians had been left in the dark.
“I actually think after this week, there’s more questions than answers and I just think Australians want a straight-up answer,” he said.
“Richard can’t answer it straight, the minister couldn’t answer it straight, and hopefully the Prime Minister can do that when he gets back on Monday.”
After a turbulent week for the government, the issue will be further scrutinised during a Senate inquiry investigating the Qatar decision and it is likely to be weaponised by the opposition when parliament resumes on Monday.
Opposition foreign affairs spokesman Simon Birmingham on Friday suggested the inquiry would help to answer “how the government was influenced, whether the Prime Minister’s office had a role and what lobbying took place”.
“We need to understand actually what the grounds were,” Senator Birmingham told Sky News.
“It’s one thing for the government to keep repeating the words ‘national interest’ but there have to be national interest grounds for why you determine that rejecting this is not in the national interest,” Senator Birmingham added.
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