Qantas the worst of all worlds

By JIM EAGLES

If there is one airline that should not be allowed to get its foot in the door of Air New Zealand it is Qantas.

At this stage it is difficult to know where the talks between the airlines are heading.

But the mere fact that the possibility of Qantas taking a cornerstone shareholding is on the agenda should set off alarm bells.

That is not a matter of commercial nationalism or silly transtasman rivalry but simple economic common sense.

A transtasman link-up would certainly be in the best interests of Qantas and of Australia. It might also allow the Government to avoid putting another $200 million into the airline.

But it is hard to see how it would benefit New Zealand or our national carrier.

The issues have not changed since Qantas made a play for an ailing Air New Zealand late last year and was rejected.

A combination of the two airlines would leave New Zealand at the mercy of a monopoly.

Domestically, it would mean a return to the bad old days when there was only one airline flying the main trunk and passengers had to like it or lump it (although Australians would still enjoy the benefits of competition from Virgin Blue).

On the transtasman route, Qantas-Air NZ would enjoy a level of market domination that would not be permitted anywhere else, for the very good reason that it would be to the detriment of consumers.

Internationally, it is inevitable that Air NZ would be gradually transformed into little more than a feeder for Qantas, and the profile the national carrier gives the country would slowly fade.

Qantas is very much a part of the cosy combination of companies, state-owned enterprises and Government agencies which make up Australia Inc, and the history of transtasman aviation makes it very clear that they will stop at nothing to pursue their own interests.

There is nothing wrong with that - except when the rules get unfairly twisted - but Australia Inc's interests are not New Zealand's.

To allow Qantas to take effective control of the New Zealand aviation scene would be very much to put the poacher in charge of gamekeeping.

Qantas may well be the only applicant for the role of cornerstone shareholder the Government has indicated it is anxious to have filled.

But, as the Maori Television Service has discovered, it is better to leave a position vacant than to make a bad choice.

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