Bill Shorten (Maribyrnong, Australian Labor Party, Leader of the Opposition) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

My question is to the Prime Minister. I refer to the Deputy Prime Minister's reported comments that there is no plan B for Qantas. Given that the Prime Minister knows that his package has no chance of passing parliament because it will mean that Qantas can no longer call Australia home, why is there no plan B to save our national carrier and why is the Prime Minister's only plan to play politics with thousands of Australian jobs and our national airline?

Tony Abbott (Warringah, Liberal Party, Prime Minister) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

A previous Labor Party that was a great reforming government in its own way was prepared to sell Qantas.

Ms Butler interjecting—

Mrs Bronwyn Bishop (Speaker) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

The member for Griffith is warned.

Tony Abbott (Warringah, Liberal Party, Prime Minister) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

A previous Labor transport spokesman, someone who was a lion of Labor, a person of great respect in this chamber, was prepared to change Labor's attitude towards the Qantas Sale Act, and I believe even now members opposite have it in them to rise to the challenge of reform. Now, I know that at the moment the Leader of the Opposition is good at complaining and hopeless at leading, he is good at criticising but he is hopeless at governing, but I think he is big enough to rise above this.

Mark Dreyfus (Isaacs, Australian Labor Party, Shadow Attorney General) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Madam Speaker, I raise a point of order. The question to the Prime Minister was directed at what plan this government has, not at policies of the opposition, and you should call him to some faint semblance of relevance to the question.

Mrs Bronwyn Bishop (Speaker) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I presume the honourable member was asking for direct relevance. The Prime Minister is answering the question.

Tony Abbott (Warringah, Liberal Party, Prime Minister) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

What we are proposing to members opposite, and this is why I believe there is every chance that what we are proposing will pass the Senate, is to allow Qantas to operate under exactly the same rules that Virgin operates under. Let us look at Virgin. Virgin has gone from zero Australian employees to almost 10,000. That is not bad. Virgin has gone from nothing to being a great Australian airline. Virgin actually started off 100 per cent foreign owned. It is still majority foreign owned but Virgin employs Australians, it flies Australians and it services its planes in Australia. What is so bad about that, and why wouldn't a sensible Labor Party—a Labor Party animated by the same patriotism that the Hawke government was animated by, a Labor Party that spawned people like Martin Ferguson—a decent Labor man; a sensible Labor leader—wake up to itself and allow Qantas to do what Virgin does? To stop giving Virgin an unfair advantage vis-a-vis Qantas I want a level playing field. I want two great Australian airlines. I want Qantas to be able to compete. I want Virgin to be able to compete. I want them to be able to compete on the same level playing field, and if members opposite thought about it for five seconds, if they stopped playing these silly populist games, that is exactly what they would want.