Andrew Giles (Scullin, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Last week I met with Qantas employees Catherine Moller, Bill Herford and George Panos. They, along with other Qantas staff, were in parliament to discuss the future of Qantas but also their future as employees of Qantas. I was struck by their passion for their work, their commitment and their professionalism. Catherine is a telephone sales representative from Queensland; Bill and George are store workers in freight from New South Wales.

While the economic and statutory issues surrounding Qantas get plenty of air-time in this place and elsewhere, there is precious little heard about the employees whose livelihoods are at stake, including those in the Scullin electorate, which is so close to Melbourne airport. Hearing personal accounts from these workers is essential for anyone participating in the discussion about Qantas's future in Australia. These workers are Qantas.

Qantas has a slogan it likes to repeat, 'You are the reason we fly'. This is half true. The other half of this is truth is, of course, that the workers of Qantas are the reason we fly. We simply could not fly without people like Catherine, Bill and George.

Qantas workers came to parliament, most for the first time, to meet with politicians across the political spectrum, but particularly with the Prime Minister. I am pleased that the Prime Minister met with these employees, but I was struck by the indifference of his response to them: 'No-one's job is safe, including my own.' These employees desire more than this. They are genuinely worried about their jobs being offshored, and the Prime Minister did nothing to allay these concerns. Qantas has already confirmed the sacking of at least 5,000 employees. If the government succeeds with its intention to cut Qantas and its employees adrift, their uncertainty will only increase. Instead of a plan for Australia's aviation industry, all we have heard from the government is its shameless attempt to blame Qantas's woes on the carbon tax. I note for the record that Qantas's domestic operations make a profit. It is Qantas's international operations that currently run at a loss, but of course the carbon price only applies to domestic flights. This attempt at blame is built on a falsehood. When Qantas issued a statement stating, 'The major issues facing Qantas are not related to the carbon tax', it was telling the truth. This prompted the Treasurer to have conversations with Qantas' management to recant those thought crimes.

By way of contrast to the Treasurer's enthusiasm for politically motivated conversations with Qantas' management, we see his reluctance to have conversations or meetings with the employees of Qantas. Fairfax Media reported that senior Qantas management, 'Felt, through general public statements and private communications, that the government wanted it to make more of the carbon tax's part in its $252 million half-year loss'. Clearly, this is a government preoccupied with the politics of the situation and not at all concerned with the policy of ensuring the ongoing viability of Australia's aviation industry.

We saw this most starkly in the way the government gagged debate in this place. We saw this in the refusal of members opposite to meet with workers from Qantas. Employees of the car industry have experienced the effect of this government's hostility to their interests and concerns. We seem to be witnessing the same, unfortunately, in aviation. Catherine, Bill and George, and all the other Qantas employees, simply cannot figure out what this government has against their jobs, their mortgages and their children's education and future. Their presence in parliament was their way of showing that they are more than just statistics on a balance sheet.

I suspect those opposite only want to see Qantas employees when they are smiling and serving food and drinks. Otherwise, it is out of sight and out of mind. Catherine, Bill and George—and thousands like them—deserve to be seen, heard and listened to. Catherine described the very human situation she and her co-workers face:

We will be waiting now on the who, what and when of the impending job losses. We need a plan, an idea of how the future might look for us, for our families and the rest of our working life. It's hard to know what is around the corner each morning. That's no way to be at work.

She deserves better, and so do her colleagues. I want to thank Catherine, Bill and George for telling me their stories so I can tell them in this place. I also want to thank Linda White, Ingrid Stitt and Julie Bignell of the Australian Services Union and Susie Allison from the National Union of Workers for bringing these employees to Parliament House and including them in this important process.

Through various mechanisms and structures, governments of other countries provide relative certainty to their employees working in the aviation sector; this government refuses to even countenance debate on the matter. Instead of the proposed amendments to the Qantas Sale Act, the government should be exploring measures to create jobs in aviation. The government held out a range of options to help Qantas, but ultimately chose the option that it knew would not succeed—it has no plan B. The employees of Qantas want to be part of the solution in securing a viable future. The government has a role in ensuring our national carrier is strong and able to deliver services in the national interest. (Time expired)