Penny Wong (SA, Australian Labor Party, Minister for Foreign Affairs) Share this | Hansard source

Thank you to Senator Birmingham for the question. If I may, I also welcome the members of the ADF here to parliament; I trust this will be interesting for you! We thank you, as always as one, for your service to our country.

I would make a few comments in response and in answer to senator Birmingham's question. The first point I would make is that, obviously, requests for additional capacity are made routinely by governments around the world, including Australia, and these requests aren't always granted. In the case of the Qatar Civil Aviation Authority's request, Minister King determined it was not in Australia's national interest to grant their request. I would make the point that this is not the first time this happened. The previous government made the same decision about Qatar.

Qatar's growth in Australia obviously has not happened as quickly as its authorities want, nor in such big leaps, and we recognise that some businesses and airlines would like to see Minister King make a different decision. But, as those opposite might recall, governments don't have the luxury of focusing on vested interests. We have to focus on the national interest, and the Australian government will support recovery and sustainable growth in the aviation sector.

I would also make the point, because I am asked about Premier Malinauskas, that Premier Malinauskas was not reflecting on this decision. The Premier knows that Qatar can fly unlimited flights into Adelaide directly. We know that the Premier has been working hard to increase—

An opposition senator interjecting—

Was that a negative comment about Adelaide? I thought we might have had some bipartisanship on something. (Time expired)