Coalition transport spokeswoman Bridget McKenzie called a press conference on Monday lunchtime to walk back an opinion article published just that morning.
Coalition frontbencher Bridget McKenzie has been forced into a backdown after she was publicly undercut by her leader for raising the prospect of forced airline breakups that could be used to split Qantas.from McKenzie arguing that a government competition review would fail if it did not look at divestiture, which could force Qantas to sell its budget arm Jetstar to bring down airfares.
That disclaimer does not appear in her original article. It argues that Treasurer Jim Chalmers will have “failed another reform opportunity unless he deals with divestiture as a measure to ensure consumers’ interests are protected, and not at the mercy of the entrenched duopoly”. But Liberals were unhappy with McKenzie’s opinion piece on Monday morning, said senior party sources who were granted anonymity to discuss internal dynamics. McKenzie’s article fuelled an impression that the Liberals agreed with populist National Party demands to intervene in open markets, the sources said.Littleproud said on Sky that the media had misinterpreted McKenzie’s article. “This is a sensible look at competition to ensure that we have cheaper airfares,” he said.
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