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A clear majority of the public wants politicians to turn down free club membership from Qantas amid a political storm over the company’s influence over government decisions, while 64 per cent also believe more foreign airlines should gain the right to fly to Australia to boost competition.
An exclusive survey shows 70 per cent of voters think it is unacceptable for political leaders to accept the free membership of elite clubs such as the Qantas Chairman’s Lounge, while only 16 per cent back the widespread practice among all major parties.
Qantas’ likeability ratings have plummeted. Credit: AAP/ Alex Ellinghausen
Only 15 per cent of voters want the government to limit flights by foreign airlines, highlighting the public mood after a contentious federal ruling to block more flights by Qatar Airways.
The exclusive findings come as Prime Minister Anthony Albanese insists the ruling on Qatar was a routine decision and hits back at claims that he was too close to former Qantas chief Alan Joyce.
In a heated exchange in question time on Monday, Albanese accused Opposition Leader Peter Dutton of spreading “lies” by falsely claiming the prime minister had hosted the Qantas boss at the Lodge and Kirribilli House.
“It is a lie,” Albanese told parliament. “They just want to make anything up.”
Albanese confirmed, however, that Joyce was one of several executives who joined him on a government jet from Sydney to Canberra so they could get to the government’s jobs summit after a Business Council of Australia dinner, a flight reported by this masthead last September.
The prime minister told parliament that the passengers on the flight included Rio Tinto head Kelly Parker, BHP’s Mike Henry and Chief Executive Women president Sam Mostyn, as well as the Qantas boss.
“They were sent a bill, they paid their own way,” he said, adding those passengers sat together while he had a meeting in another section of the plane.
At issue is the decision by Transport Minister Catherine King on July 10 to reject an application by Qatar to add 14 flights per week to its existing allocation of 28 weekly flights to and from Australia.
Dutton has accused the government of a “sweetheart deal” to protect Qantas, while King side-stepped more questions on Monday about the exact date when she told Albanese of her decision.
Albanese dismissed the latest attack on the grounds that he was at a NATO summit in Spain in July and there was no need to tell him of a routine decision that meant nothing changed.
“This is a status quo, nothing decision … to keep exactly the same thing that was put in place just one year ago,” he told parliament.
University of Sydney professor Rico Merkert has estimated the decision to block the additional Qatar flights would cost the Australian economy $1 billion a year on the assumption the overseas airline brought in 300 to 330 people per flight.
The new survey, conducted by Resolve Strategic for this masthead, shows the majority support for greater access by foreign airlines from Labor voters, with 59 per cent in favour, and Coalition voters, with 73 per cent in favour.
The Resolve Political Monitor surveyed 1604 eligible voters from Wednesday to Saturday, amid the political dispute in Canberra over the Qatar decision, to generate results with a margin of error of 2.4 percentage points.
The question was: “Earlier this year, the federal government decided to reject a request from Qatar Airways to gain more flights to Australia so it could carry more passengers to and from cities like Sydney, Melbourne and Brisbane. Qantas opposed this request and the Transport Minister, Catherine King, said that the request was turned down in the national interest. The Opposition, consumer advocates and other airlines question this decision, and the influence Qantas had on it, as it could keep prices high. Do you think foreign airlines should be granted more flights to Australia to increase competition, or is it in the national interest to limit these flights?”
Asked this question, 64 per cent said Australia should grant more flights to foreign airlines to increase competition, 15 per cent said to limit flights by foreign airlines in the national interest, and 21 per cent were unsure.
The political furore has also highlighted the common airline practice of giving politicians free access to club lounges, with Qantas and Virgin both doing this and most politicians including Albanese and Dutton declaring this on their register of interests. The Australian Financial Review has also reported that the prime minister’s son has gained Chairman’s Lounge access.
When voters were asked if it was acceptable for politicians to accept free lounge membership from Qantas, 70 per cent said no and 16 per cent said yes, with 14 per cent undecided.
The new survey also highlighted the challenges for Qantas after the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission took court action on August 31 to allege the airline advertised sales on 8000 flights for two weeks after it had cancelled the flights.
Asked about their views of major airlines, 29 per cent of voters had a positive view of Qatar Airways but only 26 per cent had a positive view of Qantas, while 42 per cent had a negative view of the Australian airline.
Asked about other carriers, 21 per cent had a positive view of Jetstar and 41 per cent had a positive view of Virgin Australia.
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