It turned into a full-blown interrogation of Joyce over issues spanning from aviation regulation to whether Qantas had granted the prime minister’s son a membership of the exclusive Chairman’s Lounge,to the airline’s reputation with the public.
The aggressive questioning revolved around the litany of complaints surrounding Qantas.
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Labor senator Tony Sheldon,a former head of the Transport Workers’ Union and long-time critic of Joyce,was particularly forceful. He fired questions at Joyce over issues including the airline’s handling of unused credits for flights that were cancelled during the COVID-19 pandemic;Qantas’ industrial arrangements with staff;and the damage to its corporate reputation from cancellations.
He put it to Joyce the company was the “most discredited” in Australia and wanted to know if this had been raised by the Qantas board.
Joyce dug in,defending the airline and at one point telling Sheldon:“The facts that you’re raising are wrong. And senator,I know you’re getting a bit worked up,but please ... give us the privilege of just not interrupting every few minutes.”