Peter Dutton (Dickson, Liberal Party, Leader of the Opposition) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I seek leave to move the following motion:

That the House:

(1) expresses its concern that this Government appears to have done a sweetheart deal with Qantas Airways, to block the application for additional flights to and from Australia by Qatar Airways;

(2) notes that the Minister for Infrastructure, Transport and Regional Development has:

(a) failed to give any clear or consistent explanation for this decision;

(b) offered up to nine different explanations; and

(c) shown she has a selective memory being somehow unable to recall any details of discussing this matter with Qantas, the principal financial beneficiary of her decision, even though she does have recall of other meetings she had over this matter;

(3) condemns the Albanese Government for decreasing competition in the aviation market and increasing air travel prices for Australian families;

(4) reminds the Albanese Government that it promised before and after the last election to be transparent and honest with the Australian people; and

(5) further notes that the Albanese Government has clearly broken this promise with its efforts to avoid proper scrutiny in the House regarding its sweetheart deal with Qantas.

Leave not granted.

I move:

That so much of the standing and sessional orders be suspended as would prevent the Leader of the Opposition from moving the following motion forthwith—

That the House:

(1) expresses its concern that this Government appears to have done a sweetheart deal with Qantas Airways, to block the application for additional flights to and from Australia by Qatar Airways;

(2) notes that the Minister for Infrastructure, Transport and Regional Development has:

(a) failed to give any clear or consistent explanation for this decision;

(b) offered up to nine different explanations; and

(c) shown she has a selective memory being somehow unable to recall any details of discussing this matter with Qantas, the principal financial beneficiary of her decision, even though she does have recall of other meetings she had over this matter;

(3) condemns the Albanese Government for decreasing competition in the aviation market and increasing air travel prices for Australian families;

(4) reminds the Albanese Government that it promised before and after the last election to be transparent and honest with the Australian people; and

(5) further notes that the Albanese Government has clearly broken this promise with its efforts to avoid proper scrutiny in the House regarding its sweetheart deal with Qantas.

Mr Tony Burke (Watson, Australian Labor Party, Minister for Employment and Workplace Relations) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Under standing order 47(e), I'll require, given we effectively had this debate yesterday, that this be dealt with immediately after the MPI.

Debate adjourned.