by Ganesh Sahathevan
In his latest foray into public debate QANTAS CEO Alan Joyce has said:
“We believe that COVID vaccination should be a requirement for all aviation workers...”
The West Australian which quoted Joyce, also reported:
Prime Minister Scott Morrison is opposed to mandatory vaccinations and warned companies could be breaking employment laws if it became a requirement.
“It’s the wrong decision for Australia. It’s just not how we do things,” he told 3AW radio.
Mr Morrison believes high vaccination rates will be achieved without forcing people to have the jab.
“You can’t make compulsory things that aren’t able to be made compulsory under our laws,” he said.
“Any decisions that companies make have to be consistent with our laws and particularly our employment laws.”
This is of course not the first time that Joyce, using his position as QANTAS CEO, has chosen to inject himself into public debate. There was, as many will recall, the matter Israel Folau, and before that same sex marriage.
Meanwhile, QANTAS is allowed to dominate flights into and out of Australia, at the expense of travellers. Joyce and QANTAS seem to think they can do whatever they please because Australian have no choice but to fly QANTAS.
It is perhaps then time for QANTAS to be exposed to competition, for the benefit of long suffering Australian travellers.
Opening up the Sydney-Los Angeles route to Singapore Airlines might be a good place to start.
TO BE READ WITH
Government bars Singapore from US route
By Jason Koutsoukis and Canberra
February 22, 2006 — 11.00am
SINGAPORE Airlines' bid to fly the lucrative Australia-US route was flatly rejected yesterday as the Federal Government encouraged it to merge with Qantas.
In a significant victory for Qantas, Transport Minister Warren Truss said the Government believed it was against Australia's interest to open up the route to further competition.
The trans-Pacific route, which Qantas shares with the American-based United Airlines, is one of the national carrier's most profitable.
In rejecting the proposal, Mr Truss shut the door on Singapore Airlines for years to come.
"If access is negotiated in the future, it will be limited and phased and we would not envisage Singapore Airlines operating on the route for some years," Mr Truss said.
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He said this would also give low-budget carrier Virgin Blue time to build the capacity to fly the trans-Pacific route.
Mr Truss also said the Government wanted the boards of both Qantas and Singapore Airlines to consider a formal alliance.
"The Australian Government believes that future mergers between major players in the international aviation industry are inevitable and considers that the Boards of Qantas and Singapore Airlines should consider the strategic advantage gained from such an alliance in our region," Mr Truss said. He said the Government had also refused Qantas' requests that foreign ownership restrictions be lifted.
Qantas chief executive Geoff Dixon welcomed the decision, saying it recognised the many factors that distorted the regulatory environment in international aviation.
Singapore Airlines expressed disappointment, saying the interests of national carriers had won out over the national interest.
"It is a sign that free trade principles, open market competition and consumer choice have again been sacrificed to protect sectional interests," the company said in a statement.
Singapore Airlines and the Dubai-based Emirates have been lobbying the Howard Government heavily for the past 12 months to open up Australian skies.
Their arguments had begun to receive a sympathetic hearing in Canberra, especially among a group of Coalition backbenchers led by West Australian Liberals Geoff Prosser and Michael Keenan.
With the appointment of new federal Transport Minister Warren Truss last July, who was also appeared inclined towards changing the status quo, Qantas switched its two best lobbyists, Geoff Dixon and chairman Margaret Jackson, into action to shore up support.
Week after week, both Mr Dixon and Ms Jackson would use any and every opportunity to charm and ultimately win backbenchers, cabinet ministers and senior bureaucrats over to their cause.
One of the most useful forums for Qantas was the Coalition's Friends of Tourism Group, managed by Mr Dixon's close friend Liberal MP Bruce Baird, himself a former NSW Transport Minister and a strong opponent of exposing Qantas to competition.
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