Probably only the tip of the iceberg with corrupt RE dealings.... The corrupt councillors, the bags of cash and the secret escort videos By Megan Gorrey and Michael Koziol Updated August 30, 2023 https://www.smh.com.au/national/nsw...ver-development-projects-20230830-p5e0ol.html The NSW corruption watchdog has found three former Sydney councillors engaged in serious corrupt conduct when they accepted trips to China and tens of thousands of dollars from property developers in return for supporting two large apartment projects. One of the developers secretly filmed two of the then-councillors in the company of escorts during so-called “boys’ weekends” overseas, in what the Independent Commission Against Corruption said was a blackmail tactic. Former councillors Vince Badalati and Con Hindi were investigated by ICAC. The ICAC recommended criminal charges be considered against former Hurstville and Georges River councillors Vince Badalati and Con Hindi, and former Hurstville councillor Philip Sansom, over their receipt of the cash payments and benefits – including flights, hotel meals and luxury car transfers. It has also recommended the Director of Public Prosecutions consider charges against property developer and real estate agent Ching Wah (Philip) Uy for making the payments and covering the councillors’ travel expenses, and against Uy, Badalati, Hindi and Hindi’s wife Mireille for giving false or misleading evidence to the commission. Uy, along with developers Yuqing Liu and Wengsheng Liu, proposed to build a 75-unit apartment block at Treacy Street and 357 residential units and a 200-room hotel at Landmark Square, both in Hurstville. The three councillors voted for the developments without disclosing their significant non-pecuniary interests arising from their relationships with Uy and Liu, the ICAC found. Former councillor Vince Badalati after appearing at the ICAC; Former councillors filmed with escorts during a trip to China (inset).Credit: Rhett Wyman, ICAC The report published on Wednesday laid bare a web of relationships involving regular trips to China, first revealed by the Herald in 2019. Badalati and Sansom travelled frequently to China and Hong Kong between 2007 and 2018, and would sometimes meet Uy in Hong Kong for “boys’ weekends”. The weekends involved shopping, eating and drinking, going to nightclubs and karaoke. Uy or “one of the other Chinese people attending” would commonly pay for the councillors’ meals, or foot the bill for the whole table. Twice in 2013, Uy secretly filmed Badalati and Sansom in China in the company of young women. The ICAC was satisfied the women were escorts, and that Uy made the videos as a blackmail tool – rejecting his claim he filmed them accidentally while on the phone to his wife. The ICAC found, in fact, he was talking to himself and pretending to talk to his wife as a “ruse”. Moreover, the report concluded: “Mr Uy’s videos provide a very telling illustration of the vulnerability of public officials to corruption arising from inappropriate and undisclosed relationships with persons who have an interest in how official functions might be exercised.” Badalati and Hindi also accepted about $170,000 each from Uy in separate payments in 2015 and 2018 in return for favouring his development interests – payments Uy had denied making in his evidence. The ICAC’s report noted Uy sometimes used the nicknames “Fat” and “Middle East” to refer to Badalati and Hindi, respectively. Wensheng Liu, Yuqing Liu and Vince Badalati at the signing ceremony in Sydney’s Chinatown. Badalati told the inquiry Uy gave him $70,000 in a shopping bag retrieved from the boot of his car following a coffee meeting in Kingsgrove in 2015, relating to the Treacy Street development, and that Uy gave him and Hindi $100,000 in cash in Rhodes in 2018, related to the Landmark proposal. The watchdog also found Hindi, a former Liberal councillor and mayor, failed to disclose an interest in the Landmark Square project, even though his wife, real estate agent Mireille Hindi, entered into a buyer’s agency agreement with Liu’s company, One Capital Group, regarding the $35 million sale of the site in 2014. She stood to make a $500,000 commission if the sale went through. The ICAC found Con and Mireille Hindi were not credible witnesses and lied on several occasions. Mr Hindi was “argumentative and rude”, much of his evidence was “not merely improbable but plainly nonsense”, and he “frequently made speeches that had little to do with the questions asked”. Mrs Hindi, meanwhile, gave evidence that was not just implausible but “not capable of belief”. The ICAC concluded that in relation to the 2014 site sale, she deliberately filled out a Buyer’s Agency Agreement using the name of her then 20-year-old son to conceal the fact she and her husband had an interest or conflict of interest in the development and its progress. She contended her son’s name appeared on the document by “mistake”, and counsel assisting the inquiry said there were doubts over whether the evidence was strong enough to prosecute her for knowingly lying to the commission. But the ICAC disagreed, calling Hindi’s claims “fanciful” and recommending charges. In 2019, Badalati sued the Herald over an article revealing he accepted flights and accommodation from Chinese developers, claiming he had paid for those items himself. The matter with Badalati was settled for $100,000 in damage and legal costs. The Herald also had to publish an apology to Badalati. But Badalati sensationally reversed his position while giving evidence to the ICAC last June, and agreed that Uy had paid for his flights and accommodation to China, in addition to the payments totalling $170,000. The Herald also had to pay $65,000 in damages to Hindi as well $5000 to reimburse his costs with Mark O’Brien Legal. The ICAC report noted that during the inquiry, Badalati accepted it had been “fraudulent” for him to commence defamation proceedings against the Herald based on matters he now acknowledged were untrue. “This was also a significant admission against his own interest,” the ICAC concluded. The inquiry was also rocked by the death of former Hurstville councillor Clifton Wong days after he gave evidence in the public hearing. Police said at the time there were no suspicious circumstances.
Former ACCC bosses criticise federal government for blocking Qatar Airways flight requests to protect Qantas By business reporters Kate Ainsworth and Gareth Hutchens Posted 17 hours ago https://www.abc.net.au/news/2023-08...ays-blocked-federal-government-accc/102792444 Is the rejection of more Qatar Airways flights in Australia's national interest? The federal government's rejection of extra Qatar Airways flights to protect Qantas was "a really bad decision" with a "weak" explanation that disadvantages customers, two former bosses of Australian's competition watchdog say. Key points: The federal government blocked Qatar's application for an additional 21 flights to "protect the national interest" Former ACCC bosses Allan Fels and Rod Sims say the decision is uncompetitive and will keep airfares higher The CEOs of Flight Centre and ANZ say the government's intervention is puzzling and defies logic In July, it was revealed the federal government rejected a bid by Qatar Airways to add 21 extra flights per week to Sydney, Melbourne and Brisbane, in addition to the 28 weekly flights it currently offers. The government hadn't provided a straightforward explanation for its decision to reject the application until Monday this week, when the Australian Financial Review published comments from Assistant Treasurer Stephen Jones, who was quoted saying the decision was in the national interest and would help keep Qantas profitable. Qantas chief executive Alan Joyce defended the government's decision before a Senate committee on Monday afternoon, arguing that allowing extra flights by Qatar would distort the market. But his argument was rejected by Virgin Australia boss Jayne Hrdlicka on Tuesday, whose airline codeshares with Qatar. Ms Hrdlicka said the claim was "nonsense," and allowing more flights would help to meet the high demand for seats in Australia and reduce airfares. And now Allan Fels, the inaugural chair of the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC), says the decision by the federal government to reject extra Qatar flights is protecting Qantas from competition. "It's a really bad decision by any standards, particularly when the government is talking about doing a competition review," he told News Breakfast on Wednesday. "This is going to put up prices, or keep them up a lot. They're 50 per cent higher now than before COVID. They would come down a lot if Qatar entered. "We don't really know [how much prices would come down by], but it would greatly increase the number of seats available and that brings prices down, but it would somewhat reduce Qantas' profits." Allan Fels says the timing of the decision is unusual given the government is now reviewing competition policy.(ABC News: Emilia Terzon) Rod Sims, who served as the ACCC chair from 2011 to 2022, has also weighed into the controversy, saying the decision is difficult to fathom. "I think it does hurt competition," Mr Sims told RN Breakfast. "What we see now particularly in Australia is very high airfares internationally and not enough capacity. "If there was a time to allow new entrants in, this is it." The Albanese government is now facing a renewed push for information about why the extra flights were denied after lobbying from Qantas. Nationals senator Bridget McKenzie has given notice that she will move for the release of documents provided to the transport minister about Qatar's application, or advice that helped the minister make the decision next week. It comes as a new report from the e61 Institute has raised concerns about the exercise of market power in Australia by dominant firms in concentrated markets. The report, The State of Competition in Australia, warns Australia's economy has much higher levels of market concentration than the United States, and there's been a "broad increase in concentration" over time. It says the airline industry is one of the most concentrated in Australia, and suggests the power dynamics between airlines and their customers is "imbalanced". Travellers are facing higher airfares as demand for flights outstrips the number of seats available.(ABC News: Danielle Bonica) 'Customers have been put second' On Thursday, Mr Fels said there was "no secret reason" behind the government's decision to block Qatar Airways. "Customers have been put second, so has tourism, business, freight, many other interests, also other airlines," he said. Has Qantas just become a protected species? Instead of being praised for Qantas's financial health, Alan Joyce is under fire — and it's all to do with how much taxpayer support it received versus how much tax it paid, writes business editor Ian Verrender. "There's no secret reason for it, it's just looking after Qantas." He rejected the assistant treasurer's reasoning it was to protect Qantas' viability and profitability. "There's a lack of transparency. The explanations hinted at profit are quite weak, and don't make a lot of sense," Mr Fels said. "Qantas made $2.5 billion [pre-tax] last year, its own profit forecasts into the future are very positive, with or without Qatar." Mr Sims said the government needs to be transparent with voters about why it chose to reject Qatar's proposal. "We haven't really had a good explanation in relation to the whole Qatar issue, and that's unfortunate," he said. "I mean, when you are taking actions which have the effect, because there's no doubt they do, of decreasing competition and maintaining higher airfares, you need really clear explanations. "I don't think we've seen that yet," Mr Sims said. He urged the government to take a broader look at how it considers flight decisions and put customers first. Mr Fels believes the decision warrants an investigation by "an independent body, maybe the ACCC". Rod Sims says he struggles to understand the decision to reject Qatar Airways' bid for extra flights.(ABC News: Amy Bainbridge) Flight Centre, ANZ bosses question intervention Graham Turner, the chief executive of Flight Centre, said the vetoing of Qatar's application would contribute to keeping airfares higher. "The lack of capacity, particularly internationally, is pretty obvious at the moment. So blocking an airline like Qatar from extra capacity certainly doesn't help from our point of view," he told News Breakfast. "Every extra flight into Australia will help lower these fares." Graham Turner is critical of the federal government's decision.(ABC: Thomas Pawson) Mr Turner said he did not believe the assistant treasurer's comments about protecting the airline's viability, and it would instead harm Virgin Australia. "I don't think anyone swallows that story," he said. "You know, fair enough, domestic carriers, particularly who fly internationally, it's quite a competitive field where it was pre COVID, and I think the government has some role in trying to make sure airlines survive. "But in this case, they're particularly damaging to the second airline in Australia ... because Virgin Australia don't have big international routes, they do mainly domestic, and the codeshare with Qatar is quite important to them, they get a lot of the flow-on traffic from international visitors and residents going out of Australia. "I don't think that that notion flies at all. It's just something that he's obviously made up on the spot." On Tuesday, Mr Turner told The World Today he was under the impression that someone above Transport Minster Catherine King made a "captain's call" to reject the application, "presumably the prime minister". Speaking in Brisbane on Tuesday, ANZ chief executive Shayne Elliott also said he was "quite disturbed" by the government moving to block the flights to protect Qantas' profits and struggled to understand the level of support given to the airline. Airline industry one of the most concentrated in Australia According to the new e61 Institute report, released on Wednesday, more concentrated industries often have higher rates of consumer contraventions. It says there have been a large number of infringement notices and enforceable undertakings issued by the ACCC over the last 30 years in the airline industry, "which is famously dominated by a small number of companies," relative to the number of firms in the industry. By contrast, it says the accommodation industry, which is less concentrated and has a higher number of businesses, has had far fewer infringement notices issued. It says repeat offences in concentrated industries are a key driver of the result. However, it says more research is required to establish causality, because the large number of infringement notices issued in concentrated industries may reflect the increased regulatory scrutiny of firms in more concentrated industries. Industries with the highest levels of concentration tend to have a higher number of consumer-related infringements issued by regulators.(e61 Institute, "The State of Competition in Australia," Research Note No.9, August 2023) The report warns highly concentrated industries often witness dominant firms becoming entrenched for longer, with higher barriers to entry for new firms. It says that can hamper the emergence of young firms "which play a crucial role in exerting pressure on incumbent firms to innovate, and provide alternative options for workers seeking new jobs". The e61 Institute is a non-partisan economic research institute. This week, it announced the appointment of Michael Brennan as chief executive. Mr Brennan was recently chair of the Productivity Commission.
Qantas and Australia's skies clouded by soaring airfares, anti-competitive behaviour, and nepotism https://www.livewiremarkets.com/wir...fares-anti-competitive-behaviour-and-nepotism The skies above Australia have long symbolised freedom, exploration, and connection. Yet, in recent years, these skies have become shrouded in clouds of anti-competitive behaviour, sky-high airfares, and nepotism, threatening the very essence of Australia's aviation industry. Once a source of national pride, Qantas, the national carrier, has evolved into an emblem of profit-driven opportunism, leaving millions of Australians to bear the brunt of exorbitant fares and diminished customer service. Amidst this disheartening scenario, the questionable ties between Qantas' Chief Executive Officer and senior Government figures further highlight the alarming extent to which vested interests have taken precedence over the well-being of the nation's people. As airfares soar to unprecedented heights – this week’s Qantas financial results indicate that average airfares are 38% higher than before the COVID-19 pandemic and 30% higher than last year – Australians face the harsh reality of exorbitant travel costs. The Qantas Group, once renowned for its commitment to serving the public, now reaps super-profit margins at the expense of both domestic and international travellers. The COVID-19 pandemic only exacerbated the issue, with the airline industry's challenges providing Qantas with a reason to increase prices while reducing the quality of service. Despite the plight of Australia’s citizens, the Australian Government's actions have perplexingly favoured Qantas' interests. After taxpayers extended $2.7 billion to Qantas the airline returned the favour by keeping the money, sacking 12.5 per cent of its workforce and jacking up airfares to unprecedented levels. Qantas claims it is unable to provide pre-COVID levels of international capacity for at least another year, due to a lack of aircraft. But let's keep in mind its CEO, who has been at the helm for 15 years, has had every chance to buy planes but has passed that expensive and profit-crushing job to the next CEO. In the meantime, unsurprisingly, Qantas has just reported colossal profit margins. Earlier this year, relief appeared in sight. Middle Eastern airline, Qatar Airways applied to operate an additional 28 weekly flights between Doha in Qatar and Sydney and Melbourne. Notably, Qatar was one of only two airlines that never stopped repatriating Australians during the pandemic. The Albanese Government’s Transport Minister, Catherine King, however, refused that application, raising questions about the extent of Qantas' potential influence over governmental decisions. As has been reported elsewhere, Catherine King has demonstrated a pattern of decisions favouring Qantas, arguably at the expense of democracy, equity and impartiality. In June 2020, then-Treasurer Josh Frydenberg directed our competition watchdog, the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC), to monitor and report on the domestic airline industry for three years. This year ACCC Chair Gina Cass-Gottlieb, requested funding from the Government to continue that work, given “a lack of effective competition... has resulted in higher airfares and poorer service”. Catherine King refused that funding. Most recently, the ACCC told The Australian Financial Review that Qantas was the most complained about company in Australia in the year to 30 June 2023. King’s rejection of Qatar’s application, originally on the back of an inexplicable conflation of air rights and a detestable but unrelated incident involving the Qatar police, showcases the Government's eagerness to accommodate Qantas' wishes over the interests of Australian consumers and the broader economy. As an aside, more recently, King has cited ‘decarbonising the transport sector’ as her reason for blocking Qatar Airways. How can Qantas have such a stranglehold of influence on a Government that is meant to represent those who voted it into power? Qantas' anti-competitive behaviour and its consequences Qantas’ anti-competitive behaviour is evident in that stifling of competition. The Qantas-Emirates alliance, for instance, effectively operates as a single entity, reaping the benefits of reduced competition and monopolistic pricing. The alarming fact that Qantas and Emirates boast over 50% market share on flights between Australia and the UK, and more than 30% market share between Australia and Europe underscores the dire need for increased competition in the aviation sector. The adverse impact of Qantas' anti-competitive practices on airfares cannot be understated. By stifling competition, Qantas maintains the ability to set exorbitant prices that Australian travellers are forced to pay. These practices not only lead to record-high airfares but also deter potential tourists from visiting Australia due to inflated travel costs. According to a leading investment blog, MacroBusiness, “Catherine King recently argued the additional Qatar flights were not in Australia’s “national interest” and would have reduced jobs for Australians – a claim rejected by the tourism and aviation industries.” While some argue safeguarding Qantas protects jobs, they forget the job cuts Qantas has already made. They also ignore the positive benefits more affordable travel would have on our skills shortage and revenue for the tourism sector. Just ask the storekeepers in the tourist-reliant town of Kuranda, Queensland, for example. In Qantas’ latest results, analysts noted; “Qantas expects to recover the cost of recent increases in A$ jet fuel by altering capacity, notably domestic capacity for 1H24 has been cut to 103% from 108% of pre-COVID.” In other words, not only does Qantas defend egregious airfares by leaning on our Government to block reasonable competition, but it also cuts its own capacity after doing so. Nepotism and cronyism: Qantas and the Prime Minister The widely reported close relationship between Qantas' CEO Alan Joyce and Prime Minister Anthony Albanese raises eyebrows and fuels concerns of nepotism and cronyism. The alleged granting of a privileged membership to the Qantas Chairman's Lounge for the Prime Minister's 23-year-old son perhaps epitomises the intertwining of political power and corporate favours. This seemingly small gesture may cast a shadow on the Prime Minister's integrity. It also underscores the lengths to which Qantas may have infiltrated the highest echelons of power, to reinforce its self-interest. Furthermore, the Prime Minister's apparent unswerving support for Qantas, despite its questionable practices, raises concerns about whether public officials are truly representing the interests of the Australian people or catering to the demands of corporate entities who can in turn, grant them favours. The Qantas-Emirates alliance further highlights the seemingly unbreakable bond between political power and corporate interests. Australia's aviation industry is at a crossroads, thanks in part to the release of Qantas’ latest annual profit announcement. Inflated airfares and anti-competitive behaviour are reflected in the company’s record results. The actions of Qantas, under the helm of its CEO, coupled with the alarming alignment of political and corporate interests, have led to a scenario where the interests of Australians at least appear to be sacrificed for the benefit of a select few. The future vision for Australia's skies should be one of fairness, competition, and accessibility, where air travel remains a source of pride and connection for all Australians. It is high time the Government re-evaluates its relationship with Qantas and takes meaningful steps to ensure a transparent and equitable aviation landscape.
ACCC launches legal action against Qantas Lois Maskiell Updated Aug 31, 2023 https://www.afr.com/politics/federa...teer-army-for-october-14-vote-20230831-p5e0tv The consumer watchdog has launched action against Qantas in the Federal Court, alleging the national carrier breached consumer law by advertising tickets for cancelled flights and failing to inform ticket holders of cancellations. Qantas sold tickets on its website for more than 8000 flights that were scheduled to depart between May and July 2022 – even after it had cancelled the flights, the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission alleges. The ACCC also claims Qantas did not inform ticket holders that their flights had been cancelled for more than 10,000 flights that were scheduled to depart during the same period. “The ACCC has conducted a detailed investigation into Qantas’ flight cancellation practices,” ACCC chair Gina Cass-Gottlieb said. “As a result, we have commenced these proceedings alleging that Qantas continued selling tickets for thousands of cancelled flights, likely affecting the travel plans of tens of thousands of people.” The ACCC’s investigation found that Qantas cancelled almost one in four flights between May to July 2022, and cancelled about 15,000 out of 66,000 domestic and international flights in its schedule. “We allege that Qantas made many of these cancellations for reasons that were within its control, such as network optimisation ...” Cass-Gottlieb said. “However, this case does not involve any alleged breach in relation to the actual cancellation of flights, but rather relates to Qantas’ conduct after it had cancelled the flights.” If you were on a cancelled Qantas flight, let us know your story by emailing edletters@afr.com.au.
This thread is an interesting read. We see very little about Australian politics in the U.S. media and these posts are enlightening.
OPINION Qantas ‘ghost flights’ allegations leave airline with some explaining to do Elizabeth Knight Business columnist August 31, 2023 https://www.smh.com.au/business/com...th-some-explaining-to-do-20230831-p5e100.html AMP charging dead customers” moment. In what must count as one of the greatest challenges Qantas’ outgoing boss, Alan Joyce, has faced in his 15-year reign, which includes COVID, the global financial crisis, the 2014 grounding of its entire fleet and the unlawful sacking of 2000 ground staff, the airline is facing allegations of selling tickets for flights it had already cancelled. Qantas chief executive Alan Joyce has some explaining to do.CREDIT:EAMON GALLAGHER The Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC) alleges that Qantas sold tickets for thousands of such “ghost” flights. This is next-level myth-busting and a body blow for the Qantas brand, which has plummeted from one of Australia’s best loved brand to one most derided by consumers. If the ACCC’s allegations do hold up, then Qantas has really taken its reputation for brazenness to a whole new level. Selling tickets for flights that never existed literally left tens of thousands of Qantas customers in the lurch, leaving them unhappy witnesses to the sort of behaviour that demands some answers from the airline’s top brass. How Qantas allegedly failed customers QF93 was scheduled to depart from Melbourne to Los Angeles on May 6, 2022. On April 28, Qantas made the decision to cancel the flight. Despite this, it did not remove the flight from sale until May 2, and did not inform existing ticketholders of the cancellation until May 4 (two days before the flight). QF81 was scheduled to depart from Sydney to Singapore on June 4, 2022. On February 8, Qantas cancelled the flight, which was not removed from sale until March 27. Existing ticketholders were not informed of the cancellation until March 28. QF486 was scheduled to depart from Melbourne to Sydney on May 1, 2022. On February 18, Qantas cancelled the flight, which was not removed from sale until March 15. Existing ticketholders were not informed of the cancellation until March 16. QF649 was scheduled to depart from Sydney to Perth on July 30, 2022. On February 18, Qantas cancelled the flight, which was not removed from sale until March 7. Existing ticketholders were not informed of the cancellation until March 8. Other examples the ACCC listed of flights affected were QF63 scheduled to depart from Sydney to Johannesburg on July 31, 2022; QF1785 scheduled to depart from Gold Coast to Sydney on May 1, 2022; QF696 scheduled to depart from Adelaide to Melbourne on July 23, 2022; QF1764 scheduled to depart from Canberra to Gold Coast on June 27, 2022; QF513 scheduled to depart from Brisbane to Sydney on June 8, 2022; QF45 scheduled to depart from Melbourne to Denpasar on May 1, 2022. It also leaves the federal government with some explaining to do, as to why it deemed it was in the national interest to protect Qantas, which has been accused of illegally mistreating its customers. The government has already been on the back foot struggling to justify why it had denied an application by Qatar Airways to increase the number of flights into Australia. For Prime Minister Anthony Albanese and Transport Minister Catherine King, this already tough sell just got a lot tougher. The scale of Qantas’ alleged deception is shocking. It allegedly sold tickets for 8000 services scheduled to depart between May and July last year, weeks after the decision had already been made by the airline to nix the flights. Compounding the alleged offences, Qantas allegedly failed to inform any customers of 10,000 cancelled flights for, on average, 18 days. In some cases, it was allegedly up to 48 days. Within this May-July period, the ACCC alleges that for about 70 per cent of cancelled flights, Qantas either continued to sell tickets for the flight on its website for two days or more, or delayed informing existing ticket holders that their flight was cancelled for two days or more, or both. The regulator also claims that Qantas cancelled almost one in four flights in the period, with about 15,000 out of 66,000 domestic and international flights. Its legal proceedings relate to 10,000 of these cancelled flights. It is the kind of behaviour, if substantiated, that would normally lead to intense calls for management heads to roll, or at the very least, a push by shareholders for executive pay to be adjusted to reflect the damage wreaked on the company’s brand. Joyce is already packing his pot plants and framed snaps at Qantas’ head office, so whether the ACCC action has any repercussions on his pay and bonuses remains to be seen. Let’s not forget, the public may have their views on Joyce, but he is universally loved by Qantas’ board and shareholders. The airline’s chairman, Richard Goyder, is arguably the No.1 ticket holder of the Joyce fan club. But the ACCC’s allegations further tarnish Joyce’s tenure at Qantas and are an assault on his credibility. This isn’t just an issue of an airline misleading its customers by selling tickets for ghost flights, the allegations undermine Joyce’s repeated claims that bad weather, staff sickness and poor airport support were responsible for delayed flights and cancellations. ACCC chair Gina Cass Gottlieb has said the service disruptions were due to “reasons that were within its [Qantas’] control, such as network optimisation including in response to shifts in consumer demand, route withdrawals or retention of take-off and landing slots at certain airports”. For its part, Qantas has had little comeback to the allegations, other than the stock standard line that it’s taking them seriously. The action taken by the ACCC coincided with Qantas’ decision to remove the expiry date on COVID travel credits that were due to run out at the end of this year. “We have a longstanding approach to managing cancellations for flights, with a focus on providing customers with rebooking options or refunds. It’s a process that is consistent with common practice at many other airlines,” the airline said. “It’s important to note that the period examined by the ACCC between May and July 2022 was a time of unprecedented upheaval for the entire airline industry. “All airlines were experiencing well-publicised issues from a very challenging restart, with ongoing border uncertainty, industry-wide staff shortages and fleet availability causing a lot of disruption.” What’s less clear for now is whether Qantas is looking to explain away its alleged actions as a system snafu, which occurred due to post-COVID industry chaos. But even if that is the case, Qantas’ customers will feel they have been betrayed by the flying kangaroo.
Why flight cancellations are much worse than you’ve been told Jenny Wiggins and Ayesha de Kretser Aug 31, 2023 https://www.afr.com/companies/trans...h-worse-than-you-ve-been-told-20230831-p5e103 The competition watchdog’s investigation into Qantas flights has revealed that 15,000 Qantas and QantasLink flights were cancelled between May and July 2022 – more than treble the 4149 cancellations publicly reported by the government over the same period. The monthly reports on domestic airline performance released by the Bureau of Infrastructure and Transport Research Economics (BITRE) are closely watched by many flyers, who use them to figure out which airline is most reliable. It’s been revealed 15,000 Qantas and QantasLink flights were cancelled between May and July 2022. Brook Mitchell They are also monitored by the Qantas board because executives’ short-term bonuses are partially linked to punctual and reliable services and beating other airlines. A Qantas spokesman would not say whether the airline has any plans to review executive pay following the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC)’s allegations that the airline breached consumer law. However, BITRE uses a relatively short timeframe to measure cancellations for domestic flights, and doesn’t track cancellations for international flights at all. It only considers a flight “cancelled” if it is axed within seven days of a scheduled departure. But the ACCC defines cancellations as any cancelled flight after an airline has advertised seats being available, regardless of when the airline makes the cancellation. ACCC chairman Gina Cass-Gottlieb told The Australian Financial Review that the regulator’s investigation had obtained data showing cancellation decisions by Qantas that were made “considerably in advance” of scheduled flight times. “So it’s actually measuring a different, but fuller set of cancellation decisions,” Ms Cass-Gottlieb said. BITRE reported 1770 domestic Qantas cancellations (excluding Jetstar) and 2379 QantasLink cancellations between May and July 2022. The ACCC says about 15,000 of Qantas’ 66,000 scheduled domestic and international flights (excluding Jetstar) were cancelled over the same period. Some 84.5 per cent of cancellations were domestic flights, with the remainder international flights. About of half of the domestic cancellations were between the nation’s biggest cities – Adelaide, Brisbane, Canberra, Melbourne, Gold Coast, Perth, and Sydney – while the rest were regional flights. All airlines recorded higher rates of cancellations during the period than before COVID-19, given difficulties returning operations to full service including staffing problems, air traffic control disruption, a pilot shortage and maintenance issues. But the ACCC also investigated Qantas’ rival, Virgin Australia, and did not find evidence that it had cancelled flights and kept bookings open as Qantas had done. BITRE says the examples of cancellations given by the ACCC on Thursday were not picked up by its own reporting because they were either cancelled with customers notified more than seven days before the scheduled flight time, or they were international flights. It said it had no “imminent” plans to extend the cancellation definition beyond seven days. The ACCC’s examples included a Melbourne to Sydney flight scheduled for May 1, 2022 that was cancelled a few months earlier on February 18. However, tickets for the flight were still being sold until March 15 and people who had bought tickets were not told of the cancellation until March 16. The revelation of the extraordinarily high number of Qantas cancellations and ongoing complaints has accelerated calls for the competition watchdog to resume its monitoring of airlines and consider passing laws similar to those that exist in the European Union, which require airlines to compensate passengers when flights don’t take off. “Where cancellations or delays are within the control of the airline, it would not be unreasonable for the airline to compensate passengers for their costs or inconvenience,” said Brisbane Airport’s head of public affairs, Stephen Beckett. Sydney Airport chief executive Geoff Culbert said the ACCC’s allegations provided “even more justification to implement the findings of the Harris review, including an immediate forensic audit into cancellations and slot misuse, a beefed-up compliance regime, and an enforcement process that punishes misbehaviour”. Former Productivity Commission chairman Peter Harris completed an independent review of the rules governing how Sydney Airport is allowed to allocate landing and take-off slots in 2021, and recommended legislative change to make it harder for airports to “hoard” landing and take-off slots without using them. Australian Airports Association chief executive James Goodwin said the lawsuit showed there was more justification for transport minister Catherine King to reinstate formal monitoring of airlines by the ACCC “after she decided earlier this year it wasn’t necessary”.
More than half of Australians oppose Indigenous panel in constitution, poll shows https://www.reuters.com/world/asia-...ous-panel-constitution-poll-shows-2023-09-03/ SYDNEY, Sept 4 (Reuters) - More than half of Australians would reject the inclusion of an Indigenous advisory panel in the constitution, a newspaper poll showed on Monday, as the government struggles to lift support for the landmark proposal ahead of a vote in about six weeks. The latest newspoll conducted for The Australian newspaper showed support for a "Voice to Parliament", an Indigenous committee to advise Parliament on matters affecting them, continued to slide with only 38% of voters intending to support it, while around 53% will be opposing the proposal. Australia is facing a six-week campaign before voting in the referendum on Oct. 14, when they would be asked whether they support altering the constitution to set up an Indigenous committee to advise the federal parliament. The referendum requires a national majority of votes as well as a majority of votes in at least four of the six states in order to change the constitution. Since Australian independence in 1901, only eight of the 44 proposals for constitutional change have been approved. The centre-left Labor government is under pressure to improve its messaging amid a steady fall in support for the referendum in opinion polls. The poll also showed the approval ratings for Anthony Albanese, who has staked significant political capital on the referendum, fell into negative territory for the first time since he became the country's prime minister last year. On a two-party preferred basis, Labor still enjoys a lead of 53-47%, though that was down from 55-45% in the previous poll. The support for the conservative coalition opposition rose to its highest level since the May 2022 election, leading Labor 37% to 35% on primary votes. Over the weekend, opposition leader Peter Dutton said he would hold a second referendum on Indigenous recognition if the Voice referendum fails but would not support a constitutionally-enshrined body, drawing criticism from the Voice support group. "He's already planning the sequel while doing everything he can to sabotage the original," Albanese told local media.
Exclusive Bungled navy warship referred to anti-corruption watchdog Andrew Tillett Foreign affairs, defence correspondent Sep 5, 2023 https://www.afr.com/politics/federa...d-to-anti-corruption-watchdog-20230903-p5e1l9 The navy’s troubled $45 billion frigate project has been referred to the anti-corruption watchdog after a scathing auditor-general’s report revealed bureaucrats failed to keep key documents on their decisions that handed the contract to British shipbuilders with an untested design. While not alleging officials acted corruptly or personally benefited, NSW Greens senator David Shoebridge has referred the project to the National Anti-Corruption Commission in a potential test case for its powers to examine integrity around government decision-making. Greens senator David Shoebridge: “This is what the NACC was designed for, to uncover systemic breaches of public trust, especially when they have become embedded in the system.” Rhett Wyman “The Greens referred this issue to the NACC because it shows that the culture Coalition and Labor governments have fostered in Defence is not serving the interests of the community,” Senator Shoebridge said. “This isn’t a case of corrupt individuals or bags of cash changing hands, it’s about a public process that has been brought down to produce a predetermined outcome. “This is what the NACC was designed for, to uncover systemic breaches of public trust, especially when they have become embedded in the system.” The Hunter-class frigates are facing uncertainty while the Albanese government waits for a review of the navy’s surface fleet of warships to be completed this month, with informed speculation that the number of vessels to be built in Adelaide may be reduced from nine to six. The project has suffered a series of blowouts, delays and design woes, including increased size and weight, affecting its planned performance, since the Turnbull government selected British giant BAE Systems in 2018. An auditor-general’s report, released in May, unearthed several issues with the procurement process. This included that BAE’s frigate, which only existed on paper, was shortlisted in 2016 alongside two rivals despite being identified by officials as a high-risk option. In 2018, defence officials recommended the frigate contract be handed to BAE Systems despite not conducting a value-for-money assessment as part of the tender process and finding its Type 26 design had “extreme risk” measured against two of the selection criteria. No records of the minutes in both decisions were kept, despite their importance in justifying the selection of a design for the navy’s second most expensive procurement, behind only new submarines. The audit warned the $45 billion price tag was only going to get higher. Senator Shoebridge also wants the NACC to look at how the Defence Department manages potential conflicts of interest after former BAE Systems employees served on government advisory panels. Again, there is no suggestion of wrongdoing on the panel members’ part. Senator Shoebridge, the minor party’s defence spokesman, believes the NACC should look at the Hunter-class frigate procurement on the grounds the process may amount to a breach of public trust. While the auditor-general and Senate committees have dug further into the problems, Senator Shoebridge believes the NACC’s standing royal commission-like powers, including powers to compel witnesses to give testimony and seize documents, will get to the bottom of how a “bloated” and unaccountable bureaucracy picked the Hunter frigate. “What we do know about the Hunter frigate procurement is that loud warnings were ignored, key checks and balances bulldozed, critical documents lost, and a small group of powerful insiders got the result they wanted,” Senator Shoebridge said. “Forking out eye-watering sums for military hardware through a skewed process that doesn’t even test value for money is not in the public interest and is not good defence policy. “For too long there has been a cult of secrecy in Canberra, where a small group of military and political elite make decisions with little to no public oversight and no fear of consequences. That needs to change, and we have hope that the NACC can be part of that change.” Defence Minister Richard Marles’ office declined to comment, as did the NACC.