Albo and the Q-word that shall not be named

To be clear, it matters not one iota which carrier was first to bring the Australians home. But the fact that it was QR7424 departing from Dubai has set the stage for Anthony Albanese to play some repatriation games.

When Wong signalled a desire to put on repatriation flights last week, Qatar Airways, partner Virgin Australia, and yes, Qantas, all offered up their assistance, making special flights available free of charge.

Albo stood up at a Melbourne news conference last week to talk about the repatriation flights. You won’t need more than one guess as to which airline the Prime Minister singled out.

“For Australians who do not already have plans to leave through commercial options, Australian government-assisted departure flights will depart from Friday,” he said. “I want to thank Qantas for making their facilities available for flights to travel from Ben Gurion Airport to London.”

We seriously do not have enough column inches to tackle all the ways Albo has Qantas on the brain. And you could excuse him for not name-checking all airlines that had come forward to chip in.

Several C-17 Globemasters had been put in place to bring the Australians out of Israel. One Qantas flight carrying 238 Australians flew from Ben Gurion to London last Saturday. Qatar stepped in to take the Aussies to Sydney. Virgin took Australians back to their home cities.

But on Monday, Albanese spoke in parliament about the efforts to bring Australians home. Again, only one airline was mentioned.

“I know we are all relieved those Australians are on their way home, and I thank the Australian officials who helped assist,” he said. “We thank Qantas for the support it provided.”

Let’s be clear about what’s happening here. The Prime Minister is repeatedly saying the word “Qantas” in the same set of sentences as “repatriation” to keep up the laughable mirage that the airline remains Australia’s national carrier.

How hard would it be for Albo to thank Qatar and Virgin for the free flights? For him, Qatar Airways has become the Q-word that should not be named.

He and Transport Minister Catherine King have still not been able to fumble around for a coherent reason for denying Qatar Airways the extra flights to Australia it sought earlier this year.

And they, along with the Canberra bubble, remain in the thrall of the Alan Joyce-less Qantas. Three other MPs, including former prime minister Scott Morrison, thanked Qantas for its repatriation efforts in parliament on Monday. The secret door to the Chairman’s Lounge makes everyone a shill for the National Carrier complex.

But you can’t trick punters.

Ask Landis, the antique dealer. Ask the 36,000 Australians who were stranded overseas during the first year of the COVID-19 pandemic, brought home by Qatar Airways.

It’s pretty dire when Australians have to look to the Flying Oryx for help during a crisis.