Warren Truss (Wide Bay, National Party, Leader of the Nationals) Share this | Hansard source

for Qantas and its workers and their families. Indeed, it is an important day for the future of aviation in Australia. It is obviously a particularly difficult time for those families that are uncertain about their future. It is vital that Qantas works constructively with its workforce, the unions and others associated with the industry to try to make the transition that they are going through as smooth and painless as possible.

The reality is that Qantas plays a vital role in providing air services through our nation and it will have a key role also into the future. This government and all Australians want Qantas to be a strong company in the years ahead so that it can continue to be a national icon known around the world. But the reality is that aviation is changing. New aircraft have modern technology, and so many of the jobs that were required in the past will not be needed in the future. We do not put our cars in for a grease-and-oil change every 1,000 kilometres anymore, and new aircraft are the same. They do not require the same level of service as required in the past. You cannot maintain a 747 maintenance facility if you have only eight aircraft. You cannot open up a new service facility if you have only a dozen 380s. So many of the jobs that were required in the past are not required for the future. New technology is making such a difference.

Qantas must work its way through these kinds of issues and ensure that it takes control of its own future destiny. The board and the management have a responsibility to the shareholders to make sure that their company is profitable and a national icon to the people of Australia and to ensure that they are able to provide the services that are required.

But there are more issues than this. The carbon tax will cost Qantas $106 million this year. Next year it will be $168 million. Honourable members opposite think that that is unimportant. Those two numbers together are more than the loss that Qantas announced today. If you look forward over the coming few years, if there were no carbon tax a good quarter of the $3 billion that Qantas want to save would be saved. That $3 billion could be saved if Labor were prepared to vote to get rid of the carbon tax. And the mining tax has similar figures. Labor can help to make Qantas more profitable.

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