The case of Alan Joyce and Qantas has been given
so much attention in the media. Articles have appeared
in all of the newspapers covering this topic rather
well. A couple of things should concern us here in
Australia: Clearly, the primary interest of Alan Joyce is
that of the shareholder, when historically, the
company - developed with Australian taxpayer money -
has obligations to the Australian community generally.
The company is not merely an independent business
identity. It might no longer be a solely
government-owned airline but its an Australian "brand."
It's our air-line.

As one reader commented on another site, "Qantas is going
to be the next "Bonds." Pack it up and post it overseas
so that the quality can be paid in quantity. The more planes
the foreigners get in the air the more they get paid and the
first casualty will be safety. Look at the cheap faulty
Chinese imports that are currently flooding the markets.
They too are paid on quantity."

Remember companies like Holeproof, like Sunbeam to name
just a few. Since their
manufacturing went to China Holeproof is no longer -
holeproof. And the quality in Sunbeam products is not what
it used to be.

If Joyce thinks safety is expensive, wait until the company
starts having accidents.

The dismemberment of Qantas, the loss of Australian jobs,
and the loss of our air-carrier is a sad thing.

When Joyce says, "the period of uncertainty and instability
for Qantas is over..." he's being rather dishonest, especially
when he proposes breaking up this great airline.

Sad, sad, sad.

cont'd ...

We don't have to "Beware of Greeks carrying Euros,"
we have to beware of Irish jokes. There are Irish
jokes and there are irish jokes and then there is
an irish Joyce.

Virgin Airlines must be laughing.

You're not talking about our, [or should it be their] Julia when you mention Irish jokes are you Lexi?

I just read about Senators Bob Brown & Xfernon are proposing a private
members bill that will prevent Qantas and Virgin from making any
arrangements such as code sharing with airlines that do not pay at
least Australian wages and conditions.
They would be forced to do all their maintenance in Australia.
The parliamment would control who is appointed to the board and would
force Qantas & Virgin to sell their interests in overseas airlines
such as New Zealand.

http://tinyurl.com/6lrf7os

I knew Bob Brown was mad but this is really a case of an asylum takeover.

Wow!

Tax the mining industry out of the country.

Then send any other industry broke, by making them run as efficiently as a government department.

I can see it now, academics & bureaucrats on the boards, public servants in public contact positions, what odds they last less than a year.

Watch out Greece, Oz is coming down the straight fast, & will beat you yet to the bankruptcy flag, with just a little help from the ratbags now in control.

Sorry Lexi, you may be proven right right. Maybe Julia isn't all that bad, at least in comparison to Bob & his mates. Certainly time she sat on the ratbags from the south though.

*The company is not merely an independent business
identity. It might no longer be a solely
government-owned airline but its an Australian "brand."
It's our air-line.*

More poor rearch from Lexi! Its not "your airline".

The govt sold all of it, not part of it. Its owned by
shareholders. It was sold with certain terms and
conditions. As long as Qantas meets those conditions,
is all that matters.

As a matter of interest, Sunbeam products are still
designed in Australia. Now with competition, many
of them are far better then they ever were, when
the company faced little competition and consumers
were the mugs.

But today Sunbeam produce a much larger range, which
includes cheapskate products for those who only focus
on price and value for money quality, for more
discerning consumers. Take a look at their Cafe
series of kitchen gadgets for instance.

But of course you can always buy a Thermomix from
Germany, as record number of Australians are now
doing.