Michael McCormack (Riverina, National Party, Shadow Minister for International Development and the Pacific) Share this | Hansard source

No, I am not making this stuff up, Minister. That was one of the seven reasons given. There is only one reason. We don't know what that reason is. We are none the wiser after question time today, and we want answers. The minister will get 10 minutes—she will only need one—to give us the reason why Qatar is being blocked. Why is the ability to have more competition in the aviation sector being stopped? I welcome the minister coming to that microphone opposite and giving that reason—not because I want it, not because the opposition want it and not because we are playing politics, but because the Australian public deserves to know the answer. The Australian public deserves to know why this decision has taken place, how this decision was reached and what the future holds for the aviation sector.

This is a fantastic quote:

… we're seeing more domestic flights being scheduled than prior to the pandemic, helping drive hotel occupancy in our CBD to the highest of any major city across Australia and New Zealand. More flights mean more leisure and business visitors, increased freight capacity and greater connectivity for our state to the world, helping grow jobs and our economy.

Who do you reckon said that? Was it a Nat? Was it a Liberal? No, it was Peter Malinauskas, the Labor Premier of South Australia.

We know that those opposite like their planes. We know that the Deputy Prime Minister likes his planes. So I can't understand, with so much emphasis on getting in a plane and flying somewhere—sometimes taking your golf clubs!—why one particular airway is being blocked. Why has this decision been enacted? It is hurting Australian people who want to fly. It is hurting Australian people who are paying too much for their tickets, and it is hurting the Australian economy.

We often hear the Treasurer coming to the dispatch box during question time and talking up the jobs numbers. He should say thank you to the former Treasurer and the former member for Kooyong, Josh Frydenberg. He talks about the numbers of jobs. Think how many more jobs would be available and would be created if this decision went the other way. I look forward to the minister coming to the dispatch box and explaining how this decision was reached. Is it because there are all-too-cosy arrangements between governments and certain people? I don't know, but we will find out.

I will give the outgoing CEO of Qantas one bit of credit. He is a good fellow, and he did take a considerable pay cut during COVID. I will give him that. When there is a pile on, it is hard, and I appreciate the job that he did for Qantas during COVID. I do respect that. I am sure Australians do too. The trouble is, when there is a pile on everybody seems to want to kick a dog when it's down. That said, there are explanations to be made as to what relationships there have been and what extra discussions have taken place between a certain airline and between certain people in the government, and why this decision to block Qatar is in effect. We need more flights into Australia.

It is not just Peter Malinauskas saying it; it is also Roger Cook, the Western Australia Premier. He said that providing the conditions for affordable and convenient air travel was important in the post-COVID recovery of his state's tourism sector. He said, 'Qatar Airways should have been backed when it came to their request for extra routes in Australia'.

I had these discussions with transport ministers and premiers when I was in the role. Is the minister having those same discussions, or is she turning a tin ear to those requests being made? Is she turning a tin ear to the requests of the South Australian Premier and the Western Australian Premier. Indeed, the acting leader and probably soon to be Premier of Queensland, Steven Miles, said that if the decision were up to them they'd give it a green tick. That's what the Labor soon to be Premier of Queensland said about this decision about Qatar Airways. He wants to see it, Peter Malinauskas wants to see it and Roger Cook wants to see it. I can't understand why the Prime Minister or the transport minister, the member for Ballarat, do not want to see it.

I can't understand why they don't explain why this decision has been taken and why they're keeping this decision a secret from the Australian public. Before the election and just after the election we heard that we were going to see new transparency over this place they call Canberra; a new generation of openness and transparency. Is that what we're seeing? No, we have not seen that at all. We have seen a decision taken to block Qatar Airways. Well, we have seen seven reasons as to why, the seven deadly sins, but not one of them stacks up and not one of them is a reason why Qatar Airways should not be able to fly into this country. Qatar Airways is a good airline, and it would bring international competition.

I know that the shadow minister for trade, the member for Page, who will follow me, will explain just how important this is in terms of trade. We have those opposite who don't like live exports and want to ban them. I can see the member for Tangney opposite, from Western Australia. So many of those farmers in Western Australia are going to be affected by the decision to stop live exports, because that's the Labor way. That's the Labor policy. Yet, if they're not live, those sheep exports need to be transferred and transported somehow and in some way, and using Qatar Airways would be one of them—in the belly of Qatar Airways planes and in any other plane that wants to come to Australia and do things the right way. Exports are important. Trade is important. Getting sheepmeat to countries that want it and that are prepared to pay a premium price for it is also important.

Those opposite need to come clean today. They need to be transparent today. They need to own up and fess up as to why this decision to block Qatar Airways has been made. In just 37 seconds time the Minister for Infrastructure, Transport, Regional Development and Local Government is going to get ten minutes, and she'll only need one minute to explain why. I look very much forward to that, and so do the Australian public, because they want answers. They want to see their government being honest. They want to see their government being transparent. They want to see how they're going to get cheaper airfares in the future. That is so important. Aviation is so important. The minister should understand this, should realise this and should start talking more about this, because it's an important sector of our economy that has so far been ignored by this government, and for no good reason.

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