It has been a day of mixed messages in Australia after the Coalition’s Shadow Transport Minister Bridget McKenzie, appeared to suggest powers could be introduced to break up Qantas and Jetstar to “deal with the airline duopoly”.
In an op-ed published for the Australian Financial Review on September 9, 2024, Senator McKenzie floated the idea of “divestiture as a measure to ensure consumers’ interests”.
“The Australian travelling public doesn’t expect much. It expects its planes to take-off and land safely and on time, their bags to arrive in the same place they do, and to be able to afford a ticket,” Senator McKenzie wrote.
McKenzie also said that a review of the aviation landscape by the Australian Competition and Consumer (ACCC) “will be a failure if it does not address the role of divestiture”.
However later in the day, the Nationals leader, David Littleproud, told Sky News, such action was “not Coalition policy yet”.
In the interview, Littleproud said his colleague’s call for more powers to combat anti-competition practices were “calm methodical way of working through competition policy for airlines”.
He added it was a “sensible look at competition to ensure we have cheaper airfares”.
Transport Minister Catherine King criticized the op-ed and referred to its message as “another thought bubble from Senator McKenzie”.
The Guardian spoke with Senator McKenzie who told the newspaper that the “Labor government is seeking to misrepresent my position and the Coalition’s position”.
She clarified that divestiture powers are “one of the various tools that the treasurer needs to look at” but it was not currently a policy of the Coalition.
This year the Australian aviation industry has lost low-cost carrier Bonza, and the long-term future of Rex Airlines remains unclear.