Airline ‘not to blame’ for Folau sacking: Joyce

Alan Joyce dismisses the suggestion Qantas was involved, but concedes he wanted action taken.

Qantas CEO Alan Joyce. Picture: Adam Yip

Alan Joyce has dismissed as “outrageous” the suggestion Qantas was responsible for Rugby

Australia’s decision to terminate Israel Folau’s contract.

As major sponsors of the Wallabies, Qantas’s role in the controversy has been heavily scrutinised, with Mr Joyce revealing on Monday that he had expected Rugby Australia to “fix” the issue.

Today he went further, describing the claims made about Qantas’s alleged interference as “outrageous” but at the same time admitting he wanted it sorted out.

“Israel’s comments were terrible for a large element of the community, and a vulnerable element of the community,” Mr Joyce said.

“We felt that was causing controversy for our sponsorship and as a consequence we asked Rugby Australia ‘what are you doing to make sure we aren’t involved in a scandal?’.

“It is their issue to resolve, they have put a solution in place, they’re working through that and we’re very supportive of what they’re doing.”

He said the situation was not that different from Cricket Australia’s cheating crisis early last year.

“We said that was not good and gave them time to fix it. Other sponsors withdrew their support,” Mr Joyce said.

In regards to his most vocal critic on the issue, broadcaster Alan Jones, Mr Joyce indicated there would be no move to exclude him from any Qantas programs.

Jones has repeatedly accused Rugby Australia of “kneeling down for corporate dollars” and said Folau was sacked as a direct result of pressure from the Qantas CEO.

But Mr Joyce said “other people might discriminate” but Qantas would still consider Alan Jones for lifetime platinum status if he qualified.

“We don’t discriminate against anybody,” he said.