Katy Gallagher (ACT, Australian Labor Party, Minister for the Public Service) Share this | Hansard source

Thanks for the question, Senator McKenzie. I don't agree with the proposition—how she's framed that question—so I don't accept that. The government has been very clear that the decision on Qatar was made in the national interest. It was made by the transport minister following the same process that Mr McCormack made when he made a decision to put on hold an application by Qatar Airways when he was minister, so it has been very clear in all of the responses provided by the government that this decision was made in the national interest. That is the decision that Minister King made. She has been clear about that. We would also say that Qatar Airways are able to increase capacity if they wanted to right now. If they chose to put on more seats to Australia, they would be able to do that now. They are able to fly into Adelaide, Avalon, Cairns, Canberra and the Gold Coast.