SYDNEY, 4 November 2011: The proposed amendments to the Qantas Sale Act would threaten the viability of Qantas, cost jobs in Australia and change the spirit and intent of the Act.

Qantas CEO Alan Joyce said the Bill would have the effect of handcuffing Qantas to investments in Australia only and prevent it from investing capital and resources into new airline ventures anywhere outside Australia.

“Qantas will always be owned by Australians, will always be proud that the vast majority of our operations are based in Australia and will always call Australia home,” Mr Joyce said.

“The Qantas Group employs 35,000 people and with 92 per cent of these based in Australia it makes the airline one of the largest employers in the country. We are the only major airline that does heavy maintenance in Australia.

“The primary purpose of the Qantas Sale Act was to ensure that Qantas would remain a majority Australian owned flag carrier.

The Federal Government recently acknowledged that nothing Qantas is doing is in contravention of the spirit or intent of the Act.

“The Bill being proposed would not do more to protect Australia’s Qantas. It would not make us more Australian. It would not protect Australian jobs. It would have the opposite effect. It would put our business in jeopardy. It would threaten Australian jobs.

“The Bill represents a significant threat to the viability of Qantas and the growing number of Jetstar airlines operating in Asia – even those that don’t fly to and from Australia.

“This legislation would have significant repercussions for all Australian companies seeking to do business and compete internationally, and for the Australian economy, in particular our struggling tourism industry.

“Would Australia seriously consider applying these principles to other great Australian companies such as ANZ, BHP or Westfield, who also invest and employ in overseas markets? Like Qantas, these are great Australian companies who have sought out new markets, created jobs, grown opportunities and wealth for this country.”

Qantas always has and will continue to comply with the requirements of the Act. These requirements are:
Ownership of the airline by foreign persons cannot exceed 49 per cent.
Foreign airlines cannot own more than 35 per cent of Qantas.
An individual foreign person cannot own more than 25 per cent of the airline.
Qantas must always form part of the airline’s trading name.
Qantas’ Head Office must be located in Australia.
The principal operational centre for services that support air travel (e.g. catering, engineering) must be located in Australia.
Two thirds of the directors must be Australian citizens.
Qantas is prohibited from becoming incorporated outside Australia.

Mr Joyce said Qantas was also opposed to the Air Navigation and Civil Aviation Amendment Bill 2011 which has serious implications for any Australian business seeking to invest internationally and compete on equal terms in foreign markets.

“The Bill seeks to use the Australian Parliament to determine the pay and conditions of citizens of another country who are employed and live in that country by a company registered in that country and under that country’s labour laws,” he said.

“Commercially, the Bill represents a cost burden on the Australian airlines to which it would apply, penalising these local airlines without requiring similar restrictions for foreign carriers competing on the same routes.

“These foreign carriers would not be required by the Bill to apply the same terms and conditions as Australian airlines, delivering a competitive advantage to them, and inevitably leading to the loss of market share, a resultant decline in services and therefore many aviation jobs in Australia.”