Senior transport bureaucrats have repeatedly dodged questions about what role Qantas had in the government’s decision to block Qatar’s bid to double its flight offerings.
Public servants from the transport department offered senators a list of reasons to why Transport Minister Catherine King decided to deny the application.
Senator Bridget McKenzie is leading the inquiry into Australia's bilateral air services agreements. Picture: NCA NewsWire / Martin Ollman Ms King has also conceded that an incident in Doha airport in 2020 - where five Australian women were ordered off a plane at gun point and strip searched - had formed part of her decision.
The transport bureaucrats told the senators they had a list of 57 stakeholders they routinely went to for submissions, but in this instance it was only Qantas and Virgin who had been specifically consulted. Pressed as to whether there was a brief that could be made available to the committee, the public servants said such a document potentially came under the public interest immunity claim made by Ms King.
The inquiry heard that simultaneously, a brief in relation to Qatar’s request was finalised by the department January.
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