Anthony Albanese (Grayndler, Australian Labor Party, Prime Minister) Share this | Hansard source

The premise of the question is wrong because Qatar Airways can add more seats into Australia today—right now. It comes from a complete failure to understand the way that the international aviation system works, which is through agreements between nations, not with airlines—agreements between nations are what occur. They are certainly welcome to do so, and they can fly as many flights as they like into Adelaide, into the Gold Coast, into Avalon, into Hobart and into Canberra, where there used to be international flights. The Deputy Leader of the Opposition should know about flights to the Gold Coast. They can also, today, change the 777s into A380s and fly more people in here.

What happens with agreements between nations—and former transport ministers will know this—is that there is nothing unusual whatsoever about agreements not just being ticked and flicked between countries. When we talk about international flights—

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