Anthony Albanese (Grayndler, Australian Labor Party, Shadow Minister for Infrastructure and Transport) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

My question is also addressed to the Deputy Prime Minister. I refer to his comments in 2009, when he was opposing the white paper proposals to relax some foreign equity restrictions while keeping Qantas Australian owned. He said:

Loss of effective Australian control could leave Australia without an airline primarily committed to our interests.

What safeguards will be put in place for the Australian flying public, particularly those in regional areas? What has changed? What safeguards has he put in place for these proposals that he puts forward?

Warren Truss (Wide Bay, National Party, Leader of the Nationals) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

This question was asked yesterday and was answered very well, I thought, by the Treasurer. It was also asked the previous day, when I also provided an answer that I think was very pertinent to the issues that were raised. I would suggest that the best thing for the honourable member to do would be to read yesterday's Hansard and the Hansard from the daybefore—because the answers have not changed since then.

Anthony Albanese (Grayndler, Australian Labor Party, Shadow Minister for Infrastructure and Transport) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Madam Speaker, on a point of order going to relevance: He was asked what safeguards have been put in place—

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

The member will resume his seat. It was a very wide-ranging question. The Deputy Prime Minister has the call.

Warren Truss (Wide Bay, National Party, Leader of the Nationals) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

As I thought the Treasurer said very well yesterday, circumstances have changed substantially over the last few years. We now have very strong regional airlines that have demonstrated that even with high levels of foreign ownership—in some instances 100 per cent foreign ownership—they are able to be competitive in this country and to provide safe and reliable services. Those services have continued through good times and bad. They have been able to respond to downturns in the economy and strong periods in a way that demonstrates the sort of flexibility that a company committed to Australia will inevitably display. There is actually only one airline that is operating in Australia with one hand tied behind its back. There is only one regional airline that has one hand tied behind its back, and that is QantasLink.

We are offering the parliament the opportunity now to enable QantasLink to compete fairly and squarely with the other regional air carriers—just as we are inviting the parliament to enable Qantas to compete with Virgin and other carriers that operate in Australia. This is an opportunity to move forward and I think it is time that the Labor Party—following the decisive vote in the House of Representatives today—moved across to the Senate and allowed this legislation to pass the parliament so that Qantas can get on with building a strong future for itself.

Anthony Albanese (Grayndler, Australian Labor Party, Shadow Minister for Infrastructure and Transport) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I seek leave to table a media release from the Deputy Prime Minister—

Christopher Pyne (Sturt, Liberal Party, Minister for Education) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Leave is not granted.

Bob Katter (Kennedy, Independent) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Madam Speaker, could I have—

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

I would warn the honourable member for Kennedy not to use props. I have made it quite clear that I have always preferred the ruling of Mr Jenkins Senior to that of Mr Jenkins Junior. So we will have no props.

Bob Katter (Kennedy, Independent) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Madam Speaker, I fully accept your ruling but I would just like to table this document.

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

Ask your question first and then see.

Honourable members interjecting—

Bob Katter (Kennedy, Independent) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I cannot hear with the interjections, Madam Speaker.

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

The honourable member for Kennedy has got a limited time in which to ask his question. He had better get on with it.

Bob Katter (Kennedy, Independent) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

My question is to the Minister for Industry. Half of all airline fatalities come from maintenance and inspection failures. The only airline without a fatality is Qantas. The 5,000 Qantas engineering workers who created this safety are now to be sacked, their jobs and $1 billion a year going overseas. Overseas access by treaty is confined to an Australian airline. Surely, Minister, this must be one whose maintenance is based in Australia—not one whose market advantage comes from a cut-rate, cheapjack overseas based workforce.

Ian Macfarlane (Groom, Liberal Party, Minister for Industry) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I thank the member for Kennedy for his question, which is fairly wide ranging. Can I just make it clear that there are a number of airlines operating in Australia and another of the airlines has access to international routes, and it is also an Australian airline.

Bob Katter (Kennedy, Independent) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

And its maintenance is based overseas.

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

The member has asked his question. He will not further interject. The minister has the call.

Ian Macfarlane (Groom, Liberal Party, Minister for Industry) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I hope that, by that interjection, the member for Kennedy is not intimating that Qantas is the only airline in Australia that is safe to fly, because that is simply not true. The reality is that what this debate about is ensuring the longevity of Qantas. We on this side are about keeping Qantas well into the future. We on this side want to make sure that Qantas is able to keep flying. We want to put Qantas on a level playing field with other Australian airlines—other Australian based airlines. Those on that side—

Mr Perrett interjecting—

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

The member for Moreton is warned!

Bob Katter (Kennedy, Independent) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Madam Speaker, I rise on a point of order. The question I am asking is that the maintenance is based overseas—

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

Just state the point of order. If the member is raising a point of order on relevance—are you?

Bob Katter (Kennedy, Independent) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Yes, absolutely, Madam Speaker.

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

Then it is a wide-ranging question and the minister is in order.

Ian Macfarlane (Groom, Liberal Party, Minister for Industry) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Madam Speaker, what we need in this debate is for those who sit on that side—those in the Labor Party in the chamber opposite—to actually give Qantas a chance. Give the workers of Qantas a chance. Give them a future and get out of the way and let the Qantas Act be repealed.

Anthony Albanese (Grayndler, Australian Labor Party, Shadow Minister for Infrastructure and Transport) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

My question is to the Deputy Prime Minister. Given that the government's proposed changes to the Qantas Sale Act will allow Qantas to move maintenance workers and engineers overseas, has the government conducted a risk analysis on the consequences of transferring Qantas maintenance overseas?

Warren Truss (Wide Bay, National Party, Leader of the Nationals) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

The member speaks as though Qantas do not have service undertaken overseas now. He would know as a former transport minister that a lot of their service activities occur overseas. As I said at this despatch box a couple of days ago, their new A380 fleet—

Ms Owens interjecting—

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

The member for Parramatta will desist or leave the chamber—one or the other.

Warren Truss (Wide Bay, National Party, Leader of the Nationals) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

You cannot reasonably expect an airline to set up a huge service facility to do major service on an A380 when you have only got 12 in your fleet and the first one, as I understand it, will require a major service for the first time in about 2020. The 747s are being phased out. You cannot keep a service facility in this country to service aircraft like that. So, in reality, Qantas are already having quite a bit of their service done overseas, including in Christchurch in New Zealand and at other places.

Ms Owens interjecting—

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

The member for Parramatta will leave the chamber under 94(a).

The member for Parramatta then left the chamber—

Warren Truss (Wide Bay, National Party, Leader of the Nationals) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Perhaps a more serious part of the honourable member's question, however, is the issue of safety and the assurance that safety standards will be maintained at Qantas, especially during this transition period when a number of staff are going to leave Qantas's employ. I can inform the House that CASA, the Civil Aviation Safety Authority, has been in discussions with Qantas to talk about managing these kinds of issues and to put in place appropriate plans to guarantee that, even during this period of transition, Qantas will maintain its enviable reputation as a safe conveyor of passengers from point to point with its wonderful safety record. Both Qantas and the Civil Aviation Safety Authority are conscious of the need to address these issues, and I am sure that that is a clear and very important part of their plans into the future.

Teresa Gambaro (Brisbane, Liberal Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

My question is to the Treasurer. How will passing the Qantas Sale Amendment Bill help Qantas compete on a level playing field?

Joe Hockey (North Sydney, Liberal Party, Treasurer) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I thank the member for Brisbane for her question. I note that the best thing we can do to give Qantas a leg up and to level the playing field for aviation in Australia is to remove part 3 of the Qantas Sale Act and ensure that Qantas can compete on a level playing field with international and other domestic airlines. This is hugely important. That is the starting point: a level playing field in legislation.

As the Prime Minister said a little bit earlier, what else can we do? We can help to grow the economy—to lift the tide so that all boats will rise and all will benefit. The retail trade figures that came out today were three times better than what the market expected—three times better than what the market consensus was for January. The international trade figures that came out today were also significantly better than market expectations.

I have noticed during the course of this question time that the Labor Party would never want to let the facts get in the way of an accusation. The claims by the Leader of the Opposition here about the safety record of Qantas are outrageous. It is outrageous behaviour for someone who aspires to lead the nation. To simply sit here and claim inaccurately that the only way a plane is safe in Australia is to have it serviced in Australia not only totally ignores the fact that Qantas already gets planes serviced overseas but also ignores the fact that airlines flying to Australia do not have their servicing done in Australia and other airlines in Australia, such as Virgin, do not necessarily have their maintenance done in Australia.

Of course the hypocrisy of Labor knows no bounds. Here they are beating their chests about Qantas and yet on 31 May the tourism minister of South Australia said: 'The best way to get to Asia from Adelaide is with Cathay Pacific, Singapore Airlines or Malaysia Airlines. Support the airlines that are loyal to Adelaide.' There was no talk about Qantas. What about Qantas—the beating heart of the Labor Party? They shed tears every day for the Qantas workers and yet their Labor tourism minister in South Australia is saying: 'Don't fly Qantas; go Cathay, go Singapore, go Malaysia—do not fly Qantas.'

The hypocrisy of the Labor Party is rich. They are interventionists. They are protectionists. They want to go back to 1990. They do not understand the implications of their words.

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 government's proposal to allow foreign ownership of Qantas. How long will the consequent demerger, the thousands of staff transfers, the foreign investment review process and the obtaining of a new air operating certificate take? How many years and how many hundreds of millions of dollars will it cost Qantas and their shareholders?

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

The fundamental truth is that we want to liberate Qantas from the shackles on its operation. We want to ensure that Qantas and Virgin are both competing on the same level playing field. We have had a lot of questions on all sorts of points from members opposite.

Mr Tony Burke (Watson, Australian Labor Party, Shadow Minister for Finance) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Madam Speaker, I raise a point of order under standing order 104. We have had lots of questions on lots of issues, as the Prime Minister says. We have one right now on how long this will take.

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

We do not need the commentary; state the point of order.

Mr Tony Burke (Watson, Australian Labor Party, Shadow Minister for Finance) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

That is what it is about.

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

There is no point of order. I call the Prime Minister.

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

The fundamental point is this: we want to give Qantas a fair go and members opposite do not. That is all we want. We want to give Qantas the same fair go that other airlines have. The former minister for transport stood up and asked earlier today what has changed between now and 2009, when Labor wanted to remove the 25 per cent and 35 per cent rules. I will answer honestly.

Mr Tony Burke (Watson, Australian Labor Party, Shadow Minister for Finance) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Madam Speaker, I rise on a point of order. Utilising the Mackellar precedent, if the Prime Minister does not know the answer, he should be sat down.

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

I will repeat what I have said before: I clearly did it better than you do. I call the Prime Minister.

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

He has asked what has changed since 2009.

Opposition members interjecting—

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

There is too much noise on my left. We are hearing the answer.

An opposition member: No, we are not.

If there is no silence someone will remove themselves.

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

Let me answer with complete candour. Members opposite have got worse, and members on this side have got better. That is the truth. We have improved our understanding. We have gone forward; they have gone backwards.

Mr Albanese interjecting—

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

The member for Grayndler will remove himself under 94(a).

The member for Grayndler then left the chamber.

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

The once great Labor Party, which had the strength, the courage and the insight to sell Qantas back in the early 1990s, has gone backwards. That is the truth. This is a worse Labor Party. This is a Labor Party which has—

Mr Conroy interjecting—

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

The member for Charlton will join the member for Grayndler under 94(a).

The member for Charlton then left the chamber.

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

turned its back on reform and turned its back on leadership. What we are seeing today is a Labor Party which has turned its back on Qantas, and we will never do that. That is why we support this act.

Christopher Pyne (Sturt, Liberal Party, Minister for Education) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I simply make the point that it is quite impossible to hear the Prime Minister's answer because of the extraordinarily bad behaviour coming from the opposition benches.

Opposition members interjecting—

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

I must say I am having trouble hearing the Leader of the House make his point of order. I will say, as I said yesterday, there is a wall of noise—I do not know whether it is a tactic or whether it is spontaneous—which will not be tolerated. Should it continue, more people will join those who have already left.

Mr Perrett interjecting—

Christopher Pyne (Sturt, Liberal Party, Minister for Education) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

By way of illustration, the member for Moreton was shouting out while you were telling that side of the House not to shout.

Opposition members: Dobber!

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

I thank the Leader of the House.

Opposition members interjecting—

There will be silence. Sometimes, I think the member for Moreton thinks he is writing a book verbally. I give the call to the honourable member for Macquarie, and there will be silence on my left.