David Smith (Bean, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Hansard source

Qantas was recently held accountable by the union movement—in particular, the TWU—for its inadequate payment of international staff at the Jetstar Singapore international cabin crew base. This is just months after Qantas was fined $90 million for its illegal outsourcing of 1,800 ground staff and $120 million paid to those workers in compensation. But what has Qantas announced now? That Qantas themselves will open a new international base in Singapore. Constituents have directly raised to me the concerns they have for their jobs and that this risks further entrenching long-term offshoring of Australian jobs. Under previous management, staff at Qantas went from being fully directly employed to being scattered across 38 different wholly owned subsidiaries and labour hire companies to drive down pay and conditions. With recent news around the closure of domestic cabin crew bases in Canberra, as well as Hobart and Mildura, there are major concerns about how Qantas is choosing to operate and restructure. Too often Canberra is overlooked and taken for granted by our national carrier. These global decisions have local consequences. Qantas should reconsider this move so that our local workers and economy are not negatively impacted. Show more of that spirit of Australia that they market themselves on so heavily.

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