Simon Birmingham (SA, Liberal Party, Shadow Minister for Foreign Affairs) Share this | Hansard source

It is a very interesting concept, Senator Payne, because competition within the domestic sector is absolutely impacted by partner agreements between airlines and, critically, by the number of flights coming into this country and the pressure that creates for additional competition across the aviation sector. That is why Qantas's competitors are so particularly concerned.

Rest assured—it's not like Rex or Virgin are worried about competition on their flights to Qatar and Doha. They're not worried about that, because they don't fly to Qatar. They don't fly into Doha. They're worried about the feeder airlines that come in and give them business that creates more competition for them in terms of business with Qantas. That's why they're worried. It's the connectivity between the domestic and international markets. They are not completely discrete, separate markets. To pretend that they are is simply erroneous.

Most recently we've had Minister King, clutching at straws in desperation to try to explain how her decision is in the national interest, go back to the concerning incident that occurred at Hamad International Airport a couple of years ago. Senator Farrell outlined the details of the concerning incident that occurred, with some passengers—reprehensibly—being searched by authorities there. That was a very concerning and troubling incident. Representations were made by Australia at the time of that incident, by Senator Payne, the then minister for foreign affairs, and Australia made clear our concerns at the time.

I also note that, subsequent to making clear those concerns, the Australian department of foreign affairs, jointly with its Qatari counterpart, issued Qatar's apology to the affected individuals. The wrong was recognised by Qatar. We should all hope and trust that, in recognising that wrong, proper procedures have been put in place to make sure that never happens again. But, as I sought to highlight in my question to Senator Farrell today, there is a serious inconsistency in the logic that the government is attempting to apply, when Minister King says that that incident in Doha a couple of years ago was a factor that was considered in the context of the decision she made.

Minister King says it was considered in the context of the decision she made, and she decided not to grant Qatar Airways the extra flights. If she was so concerned by that incident from a couple of years ago as to not grant Qatar Airways the extra flights, you have to ask, then: why is it that ministers such as Minister Gallagher, Minister Farrell and Minister Wong have said in this place and, I know, in others that Qatar Airways can and should—they've encouraged Qatar Airways—put on more flights into the secondary airport markets where they don't face any restrictions? They've said that in relation to Perth, for example, they should put on bigger planes with extra seats.

Indeed, Senator Scarr. It makes no sense at all. If Minister King made her decision because she's concerned about people flying on Qatar Airways or through Doha, in particular, why on earth are the government then on the other hand arguing that they want more flights and more seats but just not into the airports that Qatar Airways had applied for?

Well, all the inconsistencies, of course, exist because the government are just covering up their own decision-making. They're unwilling and/or unable to actually be transparent and tell the truth in relation to this decision-making. That's the outrage of this situation. The Albanese Labor government have made a decision that they claim is in the national interest, but they are completely incapable of saying what those national interest grounds are. They have made a decision where they claim not to have been unduly influenced by other stakeholders, but they won't be remotely transparent about who those influences and stakeholders were. They claim that they're standing up for competition, but at the same time they're acting in ways that shut down competition. They claim they're supporting the resurgence and recovery of our tourism industry, but then they make it harder for tourists to get to Australia. They claim they're helping to transition sheep graziers, but they limit cargo capacity for sheep graziers. None of this stacks up as being in the national interest. Maybe there's something we don't know or understand, but that's why we need the proper inquiry. It's a mystery as to why this government has fought tooth and nail against this inquiry, unless it's got something to hide.