QANTAS: Senate inquiry hearings into determination to refuse Qatar extra Australian flights begin in Sydney right this moment | Digital Noch

Briget McKenzie, the shadow transport spokesperson, has been on morning radio right this moment. She is spruiking the Australian Senate Inquiry into ‘Commonwealth Bilateral Air Service Agreements’ – higher often called the Qatar/Qantas enquiry.

McKenzie has been indulging in some Qantas and authorities bashing and has particularly laid into the Chair of Qantas, Richard Goyder. She described him as having:

“overseen some egregious behaviour from his firm”.

Briget McKenzie on ABC Radio Nationwide Breakfast

Though the inquiry is ostensibly about discovering the explanations for Transport Minister Catherine King’s determination to refuse Qatar Airways an extra 28 flights into main Australian cities, this swiftly known as listening to is designed to embarrass the federal government. It has been so swiftly known as that there isn’t a program or beginning time for right this moment’s listening to publicly out there on the inquiry’s web site.

Monitor the inquiry

The primary day of the inquiry is going on now (Tuesday, 19 September, 11:32 pm), and you may monitor the audio right here. You may obtain a replica of who’s showing on the listening to right here.

The phrases

Listed here are the phrases of reference:

What’s attention-grabbing about these phrases is that they permit the enquiry to look again to 2016, a time when the Liberal/Nationwide celebration coalition was in energy. 2016 can be the yr that Canberra, Australia’s capital, began accepting Worldwide flights, with Singapore Airways as its first provider. With none obvious prior session, Qatar Airways additionally introduced in 2016 that it might be flying to Canberra – but it surely turned out not till 2018. That Qatar route was actually a method of including a flight out of Sydney. Qatar is restricted on the variety of flights it might probably conduct out of main Australian airports, which doesn’t embrace Canberra or Adelaide for that matter. So as a result of the ultimate vacation spot was Canberra, Qatar might terminate and provoke flights there, nonetheless inside its present air companies settlement

Who’s showing

Akbar Al Bakar – Qatar CEO, has been known as to look earlier than the inquiry, as have ex-Qantas CEO Alan Joyce, present CEO Vanessa Hudson, and Qantas Chair Richard Goyder. Nevertheless, Mr Al Bakar stated he is not going to be out there to attend right this moment’s listening to. Hearsay has it that he might seem later.

The inquiry is beginning right this moment with the appearances of Alternative – the patron journal, Airports and journey business representatives and opinion makers. You may obtain a replica of who’s showing on the listening to right here.

The lawyer representing the 5 girls who had been compelled into gynacological examinations just a few years in the past, Mr Michael Bradley of Marque Attorneys can be showing right this moment

2PAXfly Takeout

I don’t maintain out a lot hope for dramatic revelations or change rising from this inquiry. Having stated that, we would study one thing concerning the inside workings of Qatar, Qantas and the Airports, and extra data on slot hoarding.

In fact, this inquiry has a political agenda, significantly from conservative forces, however that doesn’t preclude it from shining a light-weight on the business and giving a little bit of daylight to the aviation business.

As a sidelight, social media is abuzz with discuss that Qantas is reducing fares on numerous routes in 2024. The arrival of the inquiry and this fare discount will likely be seen by some as portentous. Given Qantas is completely able to promoting flights lengthy after they’ve been cancelled, I’m reticent to dismiss such a conspiracy principle with out thorough examination!

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