MPs left hanging as Qantas charm offensive fails to launch

Try as it might,Qantas can’t seem to avoid annoying members of federal parliament. Last week,some MPs,among them Home Affairs MinisterClare O’Neil,were trying to depart Canberra when their flight to Melbourne was delayed until late at night.

While O’Neil got home,eventually,her colleagues from Tasmania weren’t so lucky. SenatorJacqui Lambie,whose stoushes with Qantas staff resulted in her being banned from the Chairman’s Lounge in 2021 only to make a recent,triumphant return,was among a bunch of pollies who missed their connecting flights home.

Lambie and her fellow Tasmanians had to stay overnight in Melbourne,but at least the taxpayer was picking up the tab.

It was only a few weeks ago that a bunch of Tasmanian MPs,including two Liberals,were delayed on their direct flight to Canberra when a bird hit a plane and caused mechanical damage.

It’s no wonder that there’s talk in Canberra about some of our elected representatives snubbing Qantas altogether,and flying Virgin instead. That’s got to hurt.

Your move,new Qantas bossVanessa Hudson.

MOTHER OF ALL MARQUEES

The race that stops some of the nation is a-coming and CBD hears casino giant Crown is planning the mother of all marquees for its return to the Birdcage enclosure. Overpowering,some might say.

CBD hears Crown is building a three-storey marquee that threatens to tower over its neighbour,luxury carmaker Lexus,which happens to be Melbourne Cup’s principal advertiser.

Rumour has it that Lexus has been trying to employ stilts or some other mechanism to claim top spot – literally.

We contacted Lexus about whether it planned to supersize its pavilion,but it didn’t answer. A spokeswoman said the Melbourne Cup was “not about one brand but about partners coming together and creating exceptional experiences for guests”.

US private equity firm Blackstone paid $8.9 billion for a chastened Crown last year and recently launched an advertising campaign with the tagline,“Here’s Where Things Get Interesting”. Haven’t the last few years been interesting enough?

Still,marquee-gate sounds far more fun than the Reserve Bank’s expected rate rise on Cup Day.

WHO WATCHES THE WATCHDOG?

The Australian Securities and Investments Commission has caused a bit of frustration in federal parliament of late,with senators from all major parties recently accusing the corporate watchdog of frustrating an inquiry into its enforcement capabilities.

At least those senators will get a chance to grill the ASIC top brass at estimates this Thursday,right? Not exactly. The regulator’s chair, Joe Longo,will be skipping the hearing because he’s at an International Organisation of Securities Commission (like ASIC but global) meeting in Madrid,which we hear was in the diary for months.

Fair enough,sounds a whole lot nicer than Canberra.

But apparently this was all news to the economics legislation committee’s chair,Labor senator Jess Walsh. Its deputy chair,LiberalAndrew Bragg,who’s been a regular ASIC-kicker,told us he only found out about Longo’s trip on Wednesday morning.

ASIC,meanwhile,claims it kept everyone in the loop. In a letter sent to the committee,acting chairSarah Court said the watchdog had “followed the official process for advising the committee of Mr Longo’s absence well in advance”,and that no concerns were raised until Tuesday.

Maybe it got lost in the post.

COAL CASE

Former deputy prime ministerMark Vaile’s post-political gig as chair of Whitehaven Coal caused him a major headache two years ago,when he had to resign a new job as the University of Newcastle’s chancellor before he’d even started following staff backlash over his fossil-fuel links.

Just like we weren’t sure why the uni offered him the job in the first place,Vaile’s recent share purchases are equally opaque. A little over a year ago,he sold about $1.7 million worth of stock in the mining company.

Since then,he seems to have had a change of heart. In May,he spent about $20,000 on 2850 shares. And this week,he bought another 6650,worth $49,599 all up,through a family trust.

Perhaps the former Nationals leader was enthused by Whitehaven’s strong results for the 2023 financial year,where the miner had a record net profit after tax of $2.7 billion.

Despite all that,Whitehaven’s annual general meeting this Thursday promises to be a spicy one. The company faces a push from activist shareholders to block a remuneration report,remove three directors,and block the acquisition of new mines,with that money returned to investors instead.

THE ART OF GIVING

After being welcomed to the White House for a private dinner on Tuesday night,Anthony Albanese presented PresidentJoe Biden with a painting by Australian artistKatherine Boland calledFire Flower 8, depicting native flowers,while he gave first ladyDr Jill Biden a silver leaf brooch by jewellery designerShimara Carlow and a silk scarf designed byKatarra Butler Napaltjarri.

The Bidens gave the Australians a large official gift,an 1886 American mission oak antique writing desk,as well as a custom VPI Classic Signature turntable for Albanese,a fan of vinyl records. The turntables are made in New Jersey and cost several thousand dollars each. The Bidens gave Albanese’s partner,Jodie Haydon,a handcrafted necklace by Almasika.

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