By Olivia Ireland
Prime Minister Anthony Albanese and Transport Minister Catherine King met several times with then-Qantas boss Alan Joyce between November 2022 and August last year as the government weighed up Qatar Airways’ request for greater access to the Australian aviation market and debated industrial relations reforms.
The government came under sustained pressure last year to explain its decision to reject Qatar’s August 2022 bid to double its flights to the country, with Albanese saying he had not been lobbied by Qantas on the issue after the Coalition accused him of a “sweetheart deal” with the carrier.
Prime Minister Anthony Albanese with then-Qantas chief Alan Joyce in August.Credit: Louie Douvis
Albanese’s official diary records from May 16, 2022, to December 11, 2022, released after a 16-month freedom of information battle between the government and former senator Rex Patrick and The Australian Financial Review, show Albanese had a half-hour meeting with Joyce on November 23, 2022.
A document Qantas sent in September to a Senate select committee on the cost of living in response to a question on notice shows Joyce also met King at Parliament House the same day. He met with her again on May 10, 2023, and with both Albanese and King on August 9.
King has said she decided to reject the Qatar application on July 10, 2023 and told Albanese before July 18.
The prime minister’s office on Thursday declined to say what was discussed in the November 2022 meeting, pointing to Albanese’s remarks in question time last year.
“As the prime minister told the House on 5 September [2023]: ‘I once again confirm I did not speak to the former Qantas CEO before a decision was made,’” a spokesperson said.
During that time, industrial relations was also a pressing topic for the airline as the government was introducing its secure jobs, better pay bill that revamped multi-employer bargaining, before turning its focus to its same job, same pay laws.
Qantas chairman Richard Goyder in early November 2022 told shareholders the government’s IR changes had the power to “centralise wage negotiations” and make it harder for employers long term.
In September last year, King told ABC radio that while she routinely met all the CEOs of airlines, including Joyce, “can I absolutely make it very clear the discussions that Qantas had with me and my office have on the whole been about same job, same pay, not about this decision”.
Qantas was contacted for comment. The airline’s document tabled in parliament last September said: “Qantas meets regularly with the government, opposition and crossbench on a range of issues.”
Opposition Leader Peter Dutton told 2GB on Thursday that the November meeting raised questions about the relationship between the prime minister and Joyce.
“They were best of friends and the prime minister was happy to tout that right up until Alan Joyce became unpopular, and it was also off the back of a decision the government made to stop Qatar getting extra access which would have driven down the price of international airfares,” he said.
“For 16 months, [Albanese has] fought against this information being released. It turns out that he did meet with Alan Joyce. Now I don’t know whether he’s misled the parliament or not, but I think there are serious questions for the prime minister to answer.”
During a heated question time debate in September last year, Albanese confirmed he had spoken with Virgin’s boss about the government’s move to block Qatar’s bid, but denied having a conversation with any Qantas executives, including Joyce, before the Qatar decision.
Under questioning about whether he had met with Joyce, Albanese told parliament he had one “substantive conversation” on the Qatar decision, but it was not with a Qantas representative.
“I received no lobbying from Qantas on this issue,” he said at the time.
The government’s reasons for rejecting Qatar’s application came under scrutiny after King revealed that strip-searches of Australian women from a Qatar flight at Doha were a factor, contradicting comments she had made to this masthead earlier when she said they were not behind the decision.
Albanese’s diary entries also reveal a private half-hour meeting with then-Queensland premier Annastacia Palaszczuk on June 16, 2022, the day before the government’s first national cabinet meeting, which led to the states receiving another $760 million in hospital funding.
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