Tony Sheldon (NSW, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Hansard source

Where were they when Ansett collapsed? The Howard government sat on its hands and let it all happen, to the great benefit of Qantas. I was there when Alan Joyce became Qantas CEO. The first thing he did was begin setting up labour hire companies to undercut Qantas's longstanding workplace agreements, something they still support. This was all with the explicit support of the Liberals and Nationals. I was there when Alan Joyce grounded the entire Qantas fleet in 2011 because some of their workers were wearing the wrong-coloured ties as a form of industrial action. Again, the Liberals and Nationals supported Joyce the whole way. I was there when Alan Joyce successfully lobbied the Morrison government to let Virgin collapse during the pandemic, while they gave Qantas $2.7 billion, without obligations. I was there when Alan Joyce illegally sacked 1,700 people. This government intervened in that case, on behalf of the workers. But what did the previous government do? Minister McCormack said that illegally sacking 1,700 people was 'in the best interests of the company going forward'. Christian Porter said that illegally sacking 1,700 people was 'a good model'. Senator Cash said, of illegally sacking 1,700 people, 'Qantas are entitled to make those decisions.' Either those three ministers were improperly influenced by Qantas or they genuinely supported Alan Joyce destroying the lives of thousands of people. Which one was it?

I want to go to the evidence provided by Damien Pollard to the Select Committee on Bilateral Air Services in September. Mr Pollard was one of the 1,700 illegally sacked Qantas workers who were abandoned and left for dead by those opposite. Here's what he said about the level of support he received from those opposite in his struggle against Alan Joyce:

Mr Morrison refused to meet us, and I can remember that quite clearly. It's very hard to explain that we actually felt abandoned by the government of the time because nobody would meet with us, except for the—

Labor—

opposition. The—

Morrison—

government offered no support, and they continued to praise Qantas and say that it was a decision for Qantas. That feeling of abandonment was quite striking. I can remember, many times, various politicians and prime ministers saying, 'We will govern for everybody,' and we just felt that nobody wanted to tackle Qantas. We were left to sink or swim until … the—

Labor—

opposition came in, as well as the TWU, and started supporting us.

Mr Pollard went on to say:

Scott Morrison, as I said before, refused to meet with us. Michael McCormack did meet me once. He said he could look for some support service hotlines for us. I also remember quite clearly that he told me the best thing that ever happened to him was being retrenched in his early 40s. I thought at that time, 'It may have worked for you, but it's not working for a lot of my colleagues.' I thought it was rather a strange comment.

…   …   …

It seems quite strange to say, but the gentleman who we met with that day seemed more interested in telling his own story than listening to our story. That was the common consensus amongst the other delegates who attended that meeting that day.

That is the experience of Qantas workers—desperately trying to get support from those opposite in their fight against Alan Joyce. The best they got was a number for a support line and an anecdote from the then minister about the great opportunity it is to be illegally sacked. Isn't that just disgraceful? Doesn't that really just show up the hypocritical—

Opposition senators interjecting—