I spoke in support of Senator Smith’s matter of urgency motion on airline competition in Australia to ensure transparency and scrutiny of the industry to protect consumers and promote healthy competition. It was once an iconic symbol that Australians could be proud of, but no more.
Qantas took and kept the Jobkeeper handouts during COVID then unfairly sacked ‘below the wing’ staff anyway. It outsourced the jobs to cut costs and as a result safety, despite the airline’s record profits.
That’s not all. The Australia Competition & Consumer Commission (ACCC) recently charged Qantas with selling flights that didn’t exist. Ghost flights. Qantas does it to hog the departure and arrival slots and restrict the competition that would bring down prices. Always it’s the passengers who suffer.
Qantas share registry is controlled by the same parasitic billionaires that are destroying our banking and other corporate sectors. BlackRock, Vanguard, State Street. There couldn’t be a clearer need for strong government and regulatory action to ensure honest competition and restore the calibre of Australia’s flying kangaroo.
Transcript
As a servant to the many different people who make up our one Queensland community, I support Senator Smith’s matter of urgency motion. The level of corporate cronyism and greed in Australia’s airline industry is out of control. COVID was used to change the public’s perception of what constitutes fair and reasonable behaviour in the airline industry. Fares are up, service is down and luggage is nowhere to be found. One survey found that Australian airlines managed to lose baggage 10 per cent of the time. Qantas international fares are up 20 per cent in two years. International market share has doubled, and profits have followed airfares up and now stand at $2.47 billion. Despite this, Qantas COVID cancellation credits expire on 30 December. Virgin COVID credits expire on the same date. Is it a mere coincidence?
The ACCC recently charged Qantas with taking bookings on flights that were already cancelled. There’s a reason for that. Our established airlines have a legacy allocation of airport landing and take-off gates. In order to restrict competition that may bring down prices, airlines schedule fake flights and sell tickets with no intention of operating that service. By informing customers at the last minute of the cancellation, despite knowing of the cancellation for days or weeks in advance, the airline does three things. Firstly, it keeps that slot out of the hands of a new competitor who may compete with them on price or service. Secondly, it allows airlines to squash passengers into flights that become very profitable. The domestic load in March 2023 was 85 per cent. Thirdly, passengers suffer. Everyday Australians miss connections and lose time away from loved ones. Travellers are left to reorganise holidays on the fly, usually costing them more and taking days off their holiday break.
The predatory billionaires that own Qantas shares are perfectly happy with this. Billionaires use investment funds like BlackRock, Vanguard and First State in order to turn Qantas or, more accurately, everyday Australians, into cash cows. As long as they can use restrictive trade practices, like nobbling competitors, as they did with the recent Qatar airlines decision, and as long as they can get away with hogging landing and departure slots, their dividends will grow.
From where do these excess profits come? Everyday Australians of course. Taxpayers contribute yet more. Qantas took $900 million in JobKeeper payments during COVID and, despite record profits, kept them. The ACCC should look at all of these things, not just pricing. The power of parasitic billionaires must be cancelled out through strong government and regulatory action to restore honest competition, ending crony capitalism through restoring free markets and real competition.
