Five words from Jim Chalmers signal Labor's shift on Qantas
The government is vulnerable on Qantas, so when the competition regulator hit the airline with a fresh lawsuit, Jim Chalmers came out swinging.
Treasurer Jim Chalmers didn't mince his words when responding to the competition regulator's announcement that it is suing Qantas for misleading conduct for advertising tickets last year for flights it had already cancelled.
Chalmers' office released a short statement within minutes of the ACCC announcement. "These are deeply concerning allegations," it read.
While the treasurer then stressed the government "won't be commenting further on this particular case while the matter is before the courts", he had already said enough.
The allegations against Qantas — that it kept selling tickets on its website for more than 8000 flights, even after it had cancelled the flights — are indeed concerning.
