Qantas to lead drought relief with $1 million donation, Rural Aid partnership
Qantas’s outback genesis has prompted the airline to take a lead role in drought relief effort, starting with a $1 million donation.
Qantas’s outback genesis has prompted the Flying Kangaroo to take a lead role in Australia’s drought relief effort, starting with a $1 million donation.
The national carrier will today announce a partnership with charity Rural Aid to help fund hay bales, water trucks, groceries and mental health counsellors for farming communities, struggling to survive the worst drought in decades.
In addition to $1m cash, Qantas and Jetstar will embark on a series of initiatives to raise another $1m which will then be matched by the airline.
Group CEO Alan Joyce said the aim was to provide Rural Aid with a total of $3m by the end of the year.
“Qantas started in the outback; many of our staff live there and we have a lot of farming families who supply everything from beef to broccoli that we serve customers,” Mr Joyce said.
“We feel we have a duty to help these communities who are doing it so tough.”
Among the initiatives planned by the airline are two fundraising charter flights from Sydney to Longreach and Tamworth in October, operated by volunteer crew.
Among them will be Qantas Domestic cabin crew member Zanthe Atkinson, who has first-hand experience of the drought.
Along with farmer husband John, Ms Atkinson said she was now handfeeding stock to keep them alive on their property near Tamworth.
But she said they were better off than most, thanks to the supplementary income her job provided.
“Most of the farming families have no choice but to rely solely on farm income and for a lot of them there hasn’t been any income for years,” said Ms Atkinson.
“We can’t make it rain but we can at least do our bit to help get them another day closer to the drought breaking.”
Various Qantas lounges will also host monthly “chops for change” pop ups where guests will be offered gourmet lamb chops in exchange for a small donation.
And frequent flyers will be able to use their points to support farmers, with Rural Aid to be added to the list of charity redemption partners.
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