When cornered by policy blunders, lie:
Prime Minister Anthony Albanese has sidestepped questions about whether he or his office directed or provided advice to Transport Minister Catherine King to block Qatar Airways’ bid for additional flights into Australia.
Meanwhile, Ms King refused to say which of her ministerial colleagues she consulted about the decision after Trade Minister Don Farrell and Defence Minister Richard Marles said their advice was not sought.
“I consulted with relevant colleagues,” she said, but would not elaborate.
Hello Scomo.
Australians have already made their judgement:
A clear majority of the public wants politicians to turn down free club membership from Qantas amid a political storm over the company’s influence over government decisions, while 64 per cent also believe more foreign airlines should gain the right to fly to Australia to boost competition.
Qantas decides piecemeal who gets access, including Albo’s son. Nothing to see here…except bad-faced corruption.
Even rent-seeker-loving Gottiboff has had enough:
What makes this so serious for Australia is the fact that, although it is a listed company, Qantas dominates our air transport in business, freight, tourism, and in time of war, defence. The nation can’t afford such a vital company to be crippled by governance issues. Worse still, the governance issues involve the chairman and board members as much as they involve the former CEO, Alan Joyce.
Accordingly, I urge chairman Richard Goyder to act in the national interest and recruit a top chair for Qantas – possibly one who is prepared to be, for a short time, executive chairman.
At the same time, the new chair with Goyder’s help needs to reconstruct the board.
It’s all well and good to be a part of the Game of Mates. Until you bring the Game into disrepute, then you’ve got to go.
There is no escaping the persecution of Qantas by politicians and shareholders now. It has committed wholesale fraud, political and policy corruption and profiteering.
This won’t help:
Embattled airline Qantas has bolstered its relationship with a global management consulting firm to help restore its souring public standing.
Sources said the Qantas, which had a longstanding relationship with strategic consulting outfit Boston Consulting Group (BCG) , had ramped up its partnership in recent weeks to help navigate the current transition to new chief executive Vanessa Hudson and reputational issues.
Nobody involved will survive, and the longer they hang on, the worse the damage will get. The reputation will lift when they are gone and competition returns. Der.
Bring it on!
Albo appears to have the worst tin-ear in politics since Billy McMahon.
