Michelle Rowland (Greenway, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Hansard source

I rise today to mention the concerns that exist in my electorate of Greenway regarding the recent announcement by Qantas that it will be restructuring its operations and as a result cutting Australian jobs. I realise that Qantas is a private company and the decision it has made to move jobs out of Australia towards the growth markets in the Asian region is a commercial one. I also acknowledge that I, like many members in this place, use Qantas services on a regular basis.

Over the past few days I have been contacted by scores of local residents who are very concerned about the job losses at Qantas. For every job lost there is a flow-on effect to other sectors of the aviation industry, from maintenance to hospitality. In Western Sydney many hardworking people make the trip to Mascot every day to work either directly for Qantas or for associated aviation industries. These people are concerned that Qantas's decision to move towards Asia will mean less work for them and the possibility of more redundancies. That is why yesterday I joined the National Secretary of the Transport Workers Union, Tony Sheldon, and the National Assistant Secretary, Michael Kaine, to express the concerns of the people of Greenway on this issue. I ask that Qantas listen to the concerns of the TWU and the other unions in the aviation sector and the hardworking Australian men and women who fear that these commercial decisions will negatively impact on their lives.

See this speech in context