Government defends decision to block extra flights out of Doha

ABC NEWS (Australia)

The Federal Government is maintaining it was "in the national interest" to block Qatar airways from additional weekly flights into capital cities on the eastern seaboard. The ABC can now reveal the Transport Minister Catherine King rejected the request on the same day she signed a letter to five women who were subjected to invasive strip searches by the airline in 2020.

Transcript

00:00 Out of the country, but not out of the woods.

00:06 While at the ASEAN summit in Indonesia, the Prime Minister still couldn't avoid airline

00:11 interrogation.

00:12 There are limits on where Australia can go and limits on countries coming to Australia.

00:20 On home soil, a development in the Qatar Airways saga.

00:24 It's now been revealed that the Transport Minister was lobbied by five Australian women

00:28 who were in an ongoing legal battle with Qatar Airways after they were subjected to invasive

00:33 strip searches in Doha in 2020.

00:37 In a letter to the women, signed the same day Catherine King blocked the Qatar application

00:42 for additional flights, the Minister gave assurances that the government was not considering

00:47 additional air rights with the carrier.

00:50 That letter was signed days before the Prime Minister even knew the Qatar decision had

00:54 been taken.

00:55 I did not know that the Transport Minister had made a decision on the 10th of July 2023,

01:00 a detail that has only been advised to me after question time today.

01:05 It's now also emerged the Foreign Minister spoke about the Doha incident with the Qatari

01:10 Prime Minister on Monday, but they didn't discuss air rights.

01:14 Obviously it was a very distressing event for the women concerned.

01:22 The bilateral air services agreement was not discussed in the call.

01:25 In the chamber, the Transport Minister maintained her national interest defence.

01:29 I have not based that decision on any one company's commercial interest, but on the

01:35 national interest.

01:36 The government may be using the broad national interest umbrella to defend its decision,

01:42 but with the Senate inquiry now on foot and scrutiny ramping up, the Transport Minister

01:47 may be forced to spell out the reasons behind her decision.

01:50 They are refusing to actually define why they found it not in the national interest.

01:57 [BLANK_AUDIO]

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