Qantas chief executive Alan Joyce is standing by his remarks comparing Western Australia's tough border controls to North Korea, and says that trust has been damaged.
Qantas boss Alan Joyce has doubled down on comments he made last week comparing Western Australia to North Korea, saying the state's hard border had divided the country "a bit like Korea is divided".But he believes the state's hard border has divided the countryMr Joyce told the ABC he was not describing the West Australian government as a dictatorship, but he stood by the comment.
"In Western Australia, there isn't a plan for when that is going to open up. It's starting to look like North Korea," he said at the time.The airline chief executive has not shied away from criticising the state's closed border since a planned re-opening of Western Australia on February 5Qantas had about 20,000 people booked on flights into Perth in the first week alone, aircraft had been prepared, staff paid and flights scheduled.
"And costing us, essentially, tens of millions of dollars by not opening up the borders means we are going to be more conservative on whatever other date is proposed out there," he said.Asked about the "North Korea" comparison last week, a spokeswoman for the Premier said the government was focused on protecting the health of West Australians and keeping businesses operating safely.
A spokesperson for the Premier said Qantas had benefited from FIFO flights continuing during the pandemic."Throughout the pandemic, Qantas has benefited from our decisions that have kept our FIFO-based resources sector operating, which meant FIFO flights continued during COVID. "Qantas has also benefited from our record intrastate travel boom, which has been driven by the West Australian government's significant investment in making flights more affordable."Mr Joyce warned there would be "unintended consequences" for Western Australia if the hard border remained closed and, he said, profitable businesses and talented people would leave the state.
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