Peter Dutton (Dickson, Liberal Party, Leader of the Opposition) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

My question is to the Prime Minister. Will the Prime Minister detail discussions he or his office has had with Qantas CEO Alan Joyce, or with other senior Qantas directors or executives, concerning the sweetheart deal that has blocked Qatar Airways from additional flights to and from our country, forcing Australians to pay thousands more for their air travel?

Anthony Albanese (Grayndler, Australian Labor Party, Prime Minister) Share this | Link to 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—

Peter Dutton (Dickson, Liberal Party, Leader of the Opposition) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Mr Speaker, I raise a point of order on relevance. This is another slippery answer from this Prime Minister. Can he give one straight answer?

Milton Dick (Speaker) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Order! Resume your seat.

Peter Dutton (Dickson, Liberal Party, Leader of the Opposition) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Slippery and slimy—you really are.

Milton Dick (Speaker) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

The Leader of the Opposition will cease interjecting immediately so I can hear from the Leader of the House.

Mr Tony Burke (Watson, Australian Labor Party, Minister for Employment and Workplace Relations) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Mr Speaker, I raise a point of order on two matters: (1) that point of order was an abuse from beginning to end and (2) the Practice makes completely clear that, when you leave the dispatch box, continuing to interject out of your place is highly disorderly.

Milton Dick (Speaker) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

The Leader of the Opposition knows that was an abuse of standing orders. We are just going to move on. Sorry, Prime Minister, but there'll be no more to that. The Prime Minister has the call.

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

My government supports competition, but global aviation is not a free-for-all, which is why Qantas, when it decided to fly from Perth to London, had to get QF9 to go from Melbourne to Perth and into London. They're restricted to just two slots. That's why Qantas, or any Australian airline, can't fly into Paris whenever they like. There are restrictions on flying into Rome. There is no air services agreement with Europe. We have the most competitive aviation market in the world, bar none. I see the former minister shaking his head to agree. We have Singapore Airlines, Emirates, Etihad, Malaysia, Cathay Pacific, British, Asiana, Korean, Air China, Beijing Air, China Eastern, China Southern, Xiaman Air and more all flying under international agreements between Australia and Europe via another destination.

The truth is that, when agreements come forward, ministers can make decisions to defer. Indeed, the former minister, Mr McCormack, has made comments about the decision that he made in February 2018 to put on hold an application by Qatar Airways. That only came into practice in January 2022. They waited four years under the former government. But they did something else as well. (Time expired)

I seek leave for an extension of time.

Leave not granted.