Labor Senators dissenting report

1.1This dissenting report was necessary for several reasons.

1.2First, and most immediately, to correct the inaccuracies and obvious bias in the majority report developed with a clear political agenda and without having regard to the complexity of the issue at hand, nor the full evidence presented to the Committee.

1.3It is disappointing that having been in government for all but seven of the last twenty-five years, having made precisely the same decision in relation to Qatar in 2018, and having completely ignored the need for a strategic plan for the aviation sector between 2013 and 2022, opposition senators appear to be using this Committee as a political stunt rather than acting in good faith.

1.4Second, and in contrast to the way the majority report describes Minister King's recent decision as 'major,' the Committee heard evidence that the bilateral air services agreement system has been in place since 1944 and successive Australian governments have, over time, routinely refused to increase capacity under these agreements and had requests for increased Australian capacity rejected.

1.5Indeed, the Committee heard evidence from the Qatar Civil Aviation Authority – conveniently overlooked in the majority report – that the former government approved an increase in capacity under the agreement on 5April2018 only to change its mind seven days later and then sit on any further decision for nearly four years. The same evidence shows that since 2007, Qatar has seen its route access increase only incrementally, from 7 services per week to 14 per week in 2009, 21 per week in 2015 and finally to 28 services per week in January 2022. Six years elapsed between the 2009 and 2015 increase and another 7 years elapsed between 2015 and 2022.

1.6In the space of one year, Qatar Airways requested a doubling, from 28 to 56, of weekly services.It is not unusual in any negotiation to ask for more than you expect to receive, but the request was unprecedented in the history of an agreement that grew slowly over many years.

1.7The Committee also heard evidence – including from Marque Lawyers and several trade union groups – about concerns going back many years over Qatar Airways' ability to act as good corporate citizens. In fact, it is instructive to consider that in denying the request for additional services in 2018, former minister McCormack sought to include a 'safeguard' provision in the agreement and has subsequently explained his reasons as follows:

We can't have an airline with very deep pockets undercut, undercut, undercut and … (then) people go to them as opposed to an airline that may be majority Australian-owned and unable to compete with the unfair undercutting of prices.[1]

1.8Third, despite former coalition ministers acknowledging they made decisions about air services agreements in the national interest, the majority report overlooks the way in which this national interest test has been considered by successive governments over many years. Aviation academic Dr Gui Lohmann told the committee:

When we have a carrier based in Australia, like Qantas or even Virgin Australia… we definitely create a lot more jobs in the country than when we have a foreign carrier that is simply landing here, having a turnaround time of a certain number of hours and then flying out…

There's no dispute that a national carrier base will generate more jobs and more taxes, and there's also potentially an edge in terms of how we access the assets that they have for the country's interest.[2]

1.9Much has been made during this inquiry about the factors considered in making the decision to deny Qatar Airways' request.Some have suggested that weighing several factors as part of a 'national interest' consideration is a bad thing. We suggest that it is the only thing to be done in these circumstances.

1.10Indeed, one inquiry witness representing Australia's airports, who certainly has the interest of national airports in mind, noted that 'there are a lot of things [that go] to making a decision in the national interest, including security…trade and diplomatic relations.'[3]

1.11In making her decision, the Minister has indicated that she considered the current state of aviation in Australia and the international market; the market's post-Covid recovery; the capacity returning to Australia's air market from a range of air service providers; and the impact of Australian jobs as the market recovers.[4]

1.12Minister King has also publicly indicated that the October 2020 incident at Doha International Airport provided context for her decision.

You know, the reality is this terrible incident happened. It happened to Australian women who are currently before the courts in relation to this case trying to seek an apology and compensation. It wasn't a factor in the decision, but it was certainly context for the decision. I can't pretend it wasn't there.[5]

1.13It is the view of Government senators that the safety and security of Australians travelling abroad is very much a consideration in the national interest. A lawyer representing some of the Australians involved in the Doha incident told the Committee his clients do not support allowing Qatar Airways to expand their operations, stating:

It is our clients' opinion that the airline has not demonstrated that it meets common standards of respect for human rights that all Australians would naturally expect of a company allowed to operate within our borders.[6]

1.14Fourth, many of the majority's recommendations appear blissfully ignorant of the current policy framework underpinning Australia's aviation sector and the work underway by the Albanese Labor Government to improve the situation. As the airline industry continues to recover from the pandemic, there is a large amount of additional capacity coming back into the market. Indeed, the Committee heard evidence from respected aviation expert Peter Harbison that 'there are 40 other ways of getting to Europe' and that 'if you look at the Chinese carriers today, you can get to Europe for 1,500 bucks in economy.'[7] Attempts by opposition senators to connect the Qatar decision with domestic air fare prices are disingenuous. Domestic airfares have fallen substantially from their post‑Covid highs, with BITRE's 'best discount' index showing prices in line with those experienced pre-pandemic. Moreover, the slot system at Sydney Airport is complicated and any reforms require a more considered discussion than those that took place during this inquiry – perhaps that is why the Abbott/Turnbull/Morrison governments did not undertake any reform during their time in office and allowed the Slot Compliance Committee to fall into disrepair as early as 2015, according to evidence heard during the inquiry.

1.15Finally, the Committee heard evidence from many key stakeholders commending the Government on its aviation white paper process. The White Paper, due to be released in the first half of 2024, will set the scene for the next generation of growth and development across the aviation sector out to 2050. It will consider as a priority the economic reforms needed to improve productivity across the sector, to facilitate the delivery of aviation services for the Australian public and international visitors out to 2050, as well as protecting secure Australian jobs and better rights and protections for consumers.

1.16Consumer rights and protections when it comes to aviation in Australia have been allowed to drift for too long despite some Committee member's outrage at the current situation. Since the 2009 Aviation White Paper, there have been no substantial updates to the consumer protection framework for the travelling public, despite widespread concerns being raised over recent years. No doubt that is one reason why the Australian Government is developing a new Aviation White Paper, which will consider reforms to consumer protections as a priority.

1.17It would be remiss of us not to mention the majority's focus in its report on the supposed connection between the Government's decision in respect of Qatar and Qantas' support for the Yes campaign. It is difficult to think of a more risible line of argument, less supported by facts, but nonetheless passed off as if it were true. What is true is that when Qantas illegally sacked 1700 workers during the COVID pandemic, it was Labor members and senators who stood alongside them while coalition ministers defended the company's decision. A former Qantas baggage handler, Damian Pollard, told the Committee he received no support from the former government:

Mr Morrison refused to meet us, and I can remember that quite clearly.It's very hard to explain that we actually felt abandoned by the government of the time because nobody would meet with us, except for the [Labor] opposition. The government offered no support, and they continued to praise Qantas and say that it was a decision for Qantas. That feeling of abandonment was quite striking. I can remember, many times, various politicians and prime ministers saying, 'We will govern for everybody,' and we just felt that nobody wanted to tackle Qantas. We were left to sink or swim until, at that stage of government, the [Labor] opposition came in, as well as the TWU, and started supporting us.[8]

1.18Throughout this period, coalition ministers were praising Qantas, boasting about talking to Mr Joyce at least once a week and having been lobbied to extend JobKeeper. When Labor called for corporations to repay JobKeeper instead of using the money for stock buy backs and executive bonuses, the then Prime Minister defended those companies, including Qantas, saying 'I'm not in the politics of envy.' Even today the Coalition is siding with Qantas, this time to oppose Labor's attempts to close the 'labour hire loophole' that sees staff at the airline being paid varying rates under multiple different agreements despite performing the same roles.

Conclusion

1.19It is perhaps understandable that the Senate established the Select Committee on Commonwealth Bilateral Air Service Agreements, given widespread disillusion with Qantas in the public domain.

1.20However, it is disappointing this Committee did not seek to make a meaningful contribution to the public debate, but rather descended quite quickly into political antics. Hardworking public servants were verballed, pressured into answering questions they should never have been asked, and in one particularly egregious example asked to comment on opinion polling.

1.21Government senators were often left unaware of the Committee's daily program until right before hearings commenced, Committee staff – who performed admirably – were instructed not to share information with Government senators, and who could forget the farce that saw senators and their staff, secretariat, Hansard and broadcasting officials travel to a public hearing in Perth where 60 per cent of witnesses dialled in from the East Coast.

1.22That the chair would seek to extend this Committee is not surprising. It is, however, ironic that a key argument for doing so is to hear testimony from a former CEO who is now a private citizen on the other side of the world and whose former employer has given evidence to this inquiry that he never raised the issue of the Australia-Qatar Air Services Agreement with either the Minister or the Prime Minister. Indeed, throughout five public hearings and nearly 150written submissions, this inquiry has not revealed any information that was not already on the public record before the inquiry began.

1.23It is all the more ironic that the Chair should seek to request Minister King appear before this committee, given the Chair herself only gave evidence to an inquiry in her own chamber after having been forced to do so, having declined on at least six occasions to give evidence before the Select Committee on the Administration of Sports Grants.

1.24It is longstanding practice that House of Representatives members do not appear before Senate committees. This was the position adopted by the now leader of the opposition in 2018, and it was a position reiterated by the then speaker of the House of Representatives on 4 December 2019 when he told the House that its members have 'absolutely no obligation to comply with a Senate order.'He went on to say that 'the Senate has no business seeking members of this House to comply with anything they seek to do.' When talking about Labor members and senators on 24 May 2020, former Prime Minister Scott Morrison also said 'they know that House of Representatives Ministers don't appear at Senate inquiries. That's not the normal practise….so I think to now try and change the rules exposes that as just a bit of a political stunt.'

1.25This principle has been followed by Ministers of successive governments, and to call on any Minister to break that principle now is hypocritical in the extreme. Based on the way opposition senators have conducted themselves during the past month in the context of this inquiry, we have no faith that an extension of the Committee would serve any public interest. We would, however, welcome a detailed and thoughtful consideration of Australia's aviation settings once the government's Aviation White Paper – the first in nearly fifteen years – is delivered in mid 2024.

Senator Tony Sheldon

Labor Senator for New South Wales

Senator Linda White

Labor Senator for Victoria

Footnotes

[1]Senator White quoting former Minister McCormack, Proof CommitteeHansard, 27 September 2023, pp. 10-11.

[2]Dr Gui Lohmann, Cluster Leader, ‘The Future of Aviation’, Griffith Institute for Tourism, Griffith University, Proof Committee Hansard, 26 September 2023, p. 76.

[3]Mr James Goodwin, Chief Executive, Australian Airports Association, Proof Committee Hansard, 27September 2023, p. 19.

[4]The Hon Catherine King MP, Minister for Infrastructure, Transport, Regional Development and Local Government, Transcript – TV interview ABC 7.30, 8 September 2023, https://minister.infrastructure.gov.au/c-king/interview/transcript-tv-interview-abc-730 (accessed 9October2023).

[5]The Hon Catherine King MP, Minister for Infrastructure, Transport, Regional Development and Local Government, Transcript - Radio Interview - ABC with Sabra Lane, 7 September 2023. https://minister.infrastructure.gov.au/c-king/interview/transcript-radio-interview-abc-sabra-lane (accessed 9 October 2023).

[6]Mr Michael Bradley, Managing Partner, Marque Lawyers, Proof Committee Hansard, 19September2023, p. 16.

[7]Mr Peter Harbison, Chairman, GreenerAirlines.com, Proof Committee Hansard, 19 September 2023, p. 70.

[8]Mr Damien Pollard, Transport Workers Union, Proof Committee Hansard, 26 September 2023, p. 47.