Anthony Albanese (Grayndler, Australian Labor Party, Leader of the House) Share this | Hansard source

I thank the member for Deakin for his question, and indeed it is a very good question. I have been very transparent about what the government knew and precisely when. I have indicated very clearly the process whereby my office was contacted by Mr Joyce prior to 2 pm, whereby I made three phone calls attempting to get on to Mr Joyce. Eventually Mr Joyce returned my call after 2 pm, at which point he informed me that he intended to lock out his workforce from 8 pm on Monday evening and that, as a consequence, he would shut down the airline domestically and internationally at 5 pm that day. I have indicated very clearly that that was the first time that Mr Joyce or anyone else from Qantas had ever raised with me the prospect of a lockout of the workforce and a consequential shutdown of the airline. There are some on the opposite side who have suggested that somehow I should have known that would have occurred. There was not a single person in Australia, in Qantas, an aviation reporter, an opinion writer, a politician—anyone at all in Australia—who had predicted that Qantas would take what in the words of Mr Joyce—

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