Sarah Jane-Tasker: Senators fail to get ‘gotcha’ moment they hoped for as Goyder, Hudson face Senate inquiry

A senate grilling isn’t the barbecue you want to be invited to. The heat is turned up too high and there’s no one offering you a cold beverage to cool down. But if you have to front one, learn from the master, Qantas chair Richard Goyder. That man did not break a sweat when being pulled over the coals by senators attempting to figure out why the Federal Government blocked a request by Qatar for extra flights. That wasn’t the only question they had for Goyder and his new CEO Vanessa Hudson with the senators also pressuring them on a list of other issues. If Goyder was getting frustrated at the senators, many of whom simply rephrased what had already been asked, he didn’t show it. A key issue for Qantas is, the airline is treated by politicians and Australians as if it’s a Government entity. It’s not — it’s a listed company that has to maximise returns to shareholders. It is also true though that the company has enjoyed a close relationship with governments under former boss Alan Joyce and benefited from that. One complaint from rivals is the decision to block Qatar’s extra flights played into the hands of Joyce and protected his company’s profits. Joyce has thrown his old colleagues under the airbus. A lot of the issues being raised occurred under his stewardship. Hudson and Goyder stressed that neither of them talked to anyone in government about blocking Qatar’s request. But did Joyce? The senators failed on Wednesday to get the “gotcha” moment they were hoping for and Goyder and Hudson survived relatively unscathed — and so will Qantas as most customers don’t have many other options for domestic flights.