Qantas funds the Voice referendum but not customer service

Qantas has been widely, repeatedly, and heavily criticized for its appalling customer service. This includes hours long wait times to reach anyone at their call center, if you can reach anyone at all. There is a seeming inability to redeem travel credits for flights that Qantas itself has canceled. There is the mediocre cabin service. Qantas’s product is bad and getting worse. This culminated in a “shonky” award in late 2022. Things have not improved.

Instead of fixing any of these problems, Qantas has decided it can take its customers for granted. They have decided that instead of spending money on call centers, they can spend their time and money promoting the yes side in the voice referendum. This includes new “yes23” livery, which is not an inexpensive task to undertake. It also involves actively campaigning for the referendum and inundating customers with “welcome to country” messages.

Qantas has decided they can lecture and harangue their customers, and Qantas assumes that its customers will not go anywhere. Qantas is taking their customers for granted. This is despite the fact that the majority of Australians intend to vote no, according to the recent polling.

Further, it is not even clear that the Voice would help qantas. After all, Voice is based on the Uluru statement from the heart. This uluru statement specifically wants a makarrata. If we dig into the background documents, this would involve compensation, potentially as a proportion of GDP. This could come directly from increased taxes. This would harm Qantas’s customers. Qantas is treating its customers like dirt.

This all seems to be to curry favor with Anthony Albanese. Anthony Albanese is at the forefront of this campaign and has praised Qantas. He has seemingly bullied anyone and any company that dares support no while having the temerity to accuse the no campaign of bullying. That is gaslighting and misinformation if ever I saw it. It is, however, little wonder that Qantas is in Albanese’s pocket and vice-versa. Albanese’s government blocked Qatar from running more flight routes, thereby harming customers. It now seems clear why. Qantas is supporting Albanese’s pet project.

This might be short sighted by Qantas. Customers do not like their corporate overlords telling them what to think. It could easily harm customer loyalty. This will hardly win favors when Albanese ceases to be prime minister and the referendum fails. Customers would prefer Qantas offer a good product before it spends its time on polarizing political campaigning.

I’ll be flying with other airlines.