Liberal senator Simon Birmingham says the federal opposition will pursue other means to probe why Catherine King rejected the airline’s bid for more flights.
Transport Minister Catherine King is refusing to front an inquiry into her rejection of Qatar Airways’ bid for more flights in Australia, accusing the Coalition of staging a political stunt.
“While Senator McKenzie is wasting time on a political stunt, I am spending time doing the hard work the Coalition never did to set our aviation sector up for the future,” King said. “This is the height of evasiveness from a minister who should be accountable for the decisions she makes, but is instead hiding from scrutiny,” Birmingham said.“It was Catherine King’s refusal or inability to explain her decision to deny Qatar Airways additional flights which lead to a select Senate committee being established in the first place.
Qatar executives Matt Rao and Fathi Atti told the inquiry last week the airline was “surprised and shocked” by King’s rejection, which she has repeatedly said was done in the national interest, cited the strip-searching of Australian women at Doha Airport in October 2020 as one of the reasons.
Australia Latest News, Australia Headlines
Similar News:You can also read news stories similar to this one that we have collected from other news sources.
Liberal Party moving away from polling firm Crosby TextorThe Liberal Party appears to be moving away from Crosby Textor after the polling firm started working for the Voice to Parliament ‘Yes’ campaign. The NSW Liberal Party has also moved away from the firm in favour of cheaper options such as Campaign Digital and Freshwater Strategy. “The historic association between the Liberals and Crosby Textor went through the Howard and Abbott and Turnbull years, was a big factor in Barry O'Farrell's record 2011 NSW election victory, and was adopted most wholeheartedly by former prime minister Scott Morrison,” Sky News Political Editor Andrew Clennell said. “Opposition Leader Peter Dutton is understood to be not the biggest fan of the Crosby Textor approach and Crosby Textor were blamed for the ‘Jobs and Growth’ campaign of 2016 which saw Malcolm Turnbull hang onto power by just one seat.” Mr Clennell also discussed the appointment of Richard Shields as the new state director for the NSW Liberal Party.
Read more »
Former Morrison minister from the ACT mulls NSW Liberal Senate runSenior right-wing NSW Liberals and former prime minister Tony Abbott are encouraging Zed Seselja to put his hand up to replace veteran senator Marise Payne.
Read more »
Former Morrison minister from the ACT mulls NSW Liberal Senate runSenior right-wing NSW Liberals and former prime minister Tony Abbott are encouraging Zed Seselja to put his hand up to replace veteran senator Marise Payne.
Read more »
Former Morrison minister from the ACT mulls NSW Liberal Senate runSenior right-wing NSW Liberals and former prime minister Tony Abbott are encouraging Zed Seselja to put his hand up to replace veteran senator Marise Payne.
Read more »
Albanese weighs in on 'very unfortunate' mess in Tasmania's minority Liberal govtPrime Minister Anthony Albanese has responded to the 'instability' surrounding Australia's only Liberal government.
Read more »
Labor accused of handing unprecedented power to transport unionThe Minerals Council claims new laws aimed at improving safety in the road transport industry go well beyond what is suggested and could allow the TWU to influence conditions up and down supply chains.
Read more »