Former Qantas CEO Alan Joyce has been threatened with a possible jail sentence if he refuses to face a Senate inquiry into the government’s decision to block Qatar Airways’ bid for more flights into Australia.
The inquiry is trying to establish whether Transport Minister Catherine King met with Joyce, or whether Qantas exercised any undue influence on the decision, a suggestion King and the federal government have denied.
Both King and Joyce will be summoned to face the inquiry, after the latter declined to appear earlier this week with his lawyers citing “personal obligations”.
Inquiry chair and opposition transport spokeswoman Bridget McKenzie suggested Joyce could face serious penalties if he continued to refuse to take part in the proceedings.
“(Joyce) will be summonsed on touchdown and he will be required to attend to the committee’s questions,” she said.
“I think the House of Representatives jailed someone in the 1950s who refused the summons. Let’s hope we don’t get there.”
Transport Minister Catherine King will also be called to face the Upper House committee.
New Qantas CEO Vanessa Hudson earlier this week agreed to provide details about the airline’s submission to the government about Qatar’s proposal for extra flights, but only on the condition it would be redacted and remain confidential – meaning the public won’t get to view it.
However, she refused to be drawn on whether Qantas still opposed the proposal, after saying the commercial conditions brought about by the pandemic were behind its opposition last year.
Qatar Airways senior vice president Matt Raos also faced the inquiry this week, where he was grilled about an incident at Doha International Airport in 2020 which saw multiple female passengers, including Australians, subjected to invasive gynecological examinations.
Raos described the incident, which occurred when authorities were looking for the mother of a newborn baby found abandoned in a Hamad International Airport trash can, as “a one-off incident, a very extreme incident.”
“We’ve had nothing like it previously in our history and we’re completely committed to ensuring nothing like this ever happens again,” Raos told the committee.
Five Australian women are suing the airline, alleging they were taken off the plane at gunpoint before being searched without consent.
Qatar Airways provided no response to their complaints and offered no apology, the women said.
They wrote to Catherine King through their lawyer in June urging that Qatar Airways not be allowed to double its number of Australian services from the current 28 flights per week.
“It is our strong belief that Qatar Airways is not fit to carry passengers around the globe let alone to major Australian airports,” they wrote.
“When you are considering Qatar Airways’ bid for extra landing rights, we beg you to consider its insensitive and irresponsible treatment of us and its failure to ensure the safety and dignity of its passengers,” they said.
(9 News)
