Topics: PM’s meeting with Alan Joyce, QLD school bullying, Tennis success

E&OE

CLINT STANAWAY:

The PM's friendship with former Qantas CEO Alan Joyce is again under the microscope it seems. The pair exposed for holding a meeting just six weeks after Qantas started campaigning against a plan by Qatar Airways to expand its global network. Joining us to discuss this morning today's headlines, Shadow Treasurer Angus Taylor Good morning and Zoe Samios in the studio from the AFR. Angus, I want to start with you. Anthony Albanese has been adamant he's never been lobbied by Alan Joyce, does this suggest otherwise?

ANGUS TAYLOR:

Well, it certainly does Clint. And at a time when Australians are paying more for their airfares than they should be over the festive period, it's clear that there's a credibility issue with the Prime Minister. And the real question here is what happened in that discussion on November, 22? And how is it that he said in parliament that he hadn't done a deal with Qantas or that he hadn't been lobbied by Qantas. And now we find out that there was a meeting. You can't imagine for a moment they didn't talk about this issue of Qatar Airways.

CLINT STANAWAY:

Zoe good morning to you. This is front page of the Financial Review today. The Prime Minister's Office won't reveal what the pair spoke about in that meeting. Does Albo himself need to offer some sort of explanation?

ZOE SAMIOS:

Yeah, I think he does. I mean, this has gone on for months now. We've been going over and over the conflicting reasons for it, how close the Prime Minister is with Qantas and the former CEO Alan Joyce. I think if he doesn't offer an explanation, this is just not going to go away. The heat is just going to stay on. I think the public have a right to know at least - I get that that meetings are confidential - but you know, it's we're not asking to go play by play. We're just asking for some clarity around what exactly happened in that meeting.

CLINT STANAWAY:

What sort of questions do you have for him Angus?

ANGUS TAYLOR:

Well, the first question is what did he talk about in that discussion? And why did he say to the Parliament, that he hadn't been lobbied by Alan Joyce, and he hadn't indeed met with Alan Joyce. So, you know, you can't say one thing in the Parliament and turns out it wasn't correct. I mean, he's got to front up on this. There's no question about that. Zoe's absolutely right.

CLINT STANAWAY:

Okay moving on. New data out today has revealed that one in five children don't feel safe in Queensland schools. This is heartbreaking. Angus, the students surveyed spoke of bullying, a lack of discipline, rise in vaping as well. Are you concerned things might just be getting out of control?

ANGUS TAYLOR:

Yeah, absolutely. I mean, as we're looking down the barrel of another school year, only a few weeks away, Clint, this is a really big issue. And we've got a generation of kids now who had a tough time coming through COVID at school, I saw it with my own kids. And, you know, this is really concerning. Any bullying in the classroom is absolutely unacceptable. And as we go into the new year, I think it's important that everybody take a step back and say, hey, let's not see this again.

CLINT STANAWAY:

Zoe, I reckon Queensland schools need a plan, an urgent plan to combat this, how do they do it?

ZOE SAMIOS:

I mean, I could give you a long list of things that I think that are really important. But I think the one thing I often think about when I read these things about bullying is, you know, even when I was in school, which was not too long ago, we didn't have phones, and it's just I think it's the culmination of having what goes on in the classroom and all of those normal or bad behaviours that were already happening, you know, amplified by the fact that you've got social media and you can continue to bully these kids at home.

CLINT STANAWAY:

Because we have seen a phone ban in some states.

ZOE SAMIOS:

Exactly. So I think something like that would probably be the first step. But, you know, schools have been having this problem for years and years and years. So there's probably a long list of things that they need to be doing to make sure it doesn't get any worse.

CLINT STANAWAY:

Now to a good news story for your Thursday, our own Alex de Minaur has stunned crowds at tennis' United Cup, handing Novak Djokovic his first Australian loss in six years can you believe. Angus I want to start with you - The Demon, he's the kind of athlete we love, don't we? He's a fighter. He wears his heart on his sleeve. You impressed?

ANGUS TAYLOR:

Absolutely. The Demon turns out to be a Giant Slayer, Clint. And what a wonderful, wonderful performance. Look, I always think the very best January's are a demonstration of Australian sporting prowess. And we sure as hell saw that with The Demon. We've seen it with the Australian cricket team, another haul from Cummins yesterday and the women's cricket too. Phoebe Litchfield, I mean unbelievable from a 20 year old player. So yeah, absolutely phenomenal performance from her. So you know this is what we love about January in Australia. We love our sport and The Demon's certainly contributed to that.

CLINT STANAWAY:

How good Zoe. No pressure on Demon. But should we start dreaming big ahead of Melbourne Park? First Grand Slam of the year?

ZOE SAMIOS:

I want to. No, it would be really good to see him go deep and I think he's got all the potential. I have no doubt that Djokovic would probably say, "oh, that was my warm up round, you know..."

CLINT STANAWAY:

He's got a sore wrist apparently.

ZOE SAMIOS:

Oh, does he? Of course he does. Look, I have no doubt that everyone will be digging deep but I think de Minaur can go a long, long way. And I kind of love it like, I really miss having Ash Barty out there and it'll be good to see if we can get to the quarterfinal, semi finals, maybe grand final, it would be nice to win.

CLINT STANAWAY:

The Summer of Tennis right here on the Nine Network Zoe thank you so much, Angus thanks to you also.

ENDS.