Key Points
- In July, Transport Minister Catherine King rejected a bid from Qatar Airways for additional Australian flights.
- In 2020, 13 Australian women were forcibly removed from a Qatar Airways flight and invasively strip-searched.
- King said the incident provided "context" for her decision, but was not the only factor.
Transport Minister Catherine King has said invasive body searches were a contributing factor to her decision to block Qatar Airways from adding 28 additional weekly flights into Australia.
The comments come as pressure mounts on the government over the decision.
In 2020, 13 Australian women were forcibly removed from a Qatar Airways plan in Doha and invasively strip-searched as officials searched for the mother of a newborn baby who had been found in an airport bathroom.
Five of the women are taking legal action against the Qatar Civil Aviation Authority, Qatar Company for Airports Operation and Management, and Qatar Airways.
King said the incident provided "context" for the decision to block the airline from adding additional Australian flights, but was not the only factor.
"There is no one factor I will point to that swayed my decision one way or another," she said.
"Certainly, for context, this is the airline that has something like that that has happened, so I can't say that I wasn't aware of it, but certainly it wasn't the only factor."
King said the decision was in the national interest.
The Australian government has rejected a proposal from Qatar Airways to add additional Australian routes. Source: AAP / Mondadori Portfolio/Sipa USA
"We make decisions in the national interest all of the time."
King confirmed she made her decision on 10 July and that she informed Prime Minister Anthony Albanese before it was made public on 18 July.
The transport minister confirmed she had consulted with ministerial colleagues, and considered stakeholder views, but did not say who.
Foreign Minister Penny Wong was asked by SBS News why she did not raise the issue with the leader of Qatar earlier this week.
Speaking in Indonesia, Wong said: "It may be an issue of focus in domestic politics in Australia because the Opposition and those with commercial interests are very interested in it.
"But there are other bilateral issues in the relationship which are important and do need to be engaged about.
"Minister King has made a judgement about what is in the national interest, and I appreciate there are those who, for political or commercial reasons, have a different view."
The government has come under scrutiny after it was revealed to reject the bid from Qatar Airways.
The federal Opposition has accused the government of protecting Qantas from competition and accused King of not being transparent about the reasons for her decision.
The issue will be explored by a Senate committee inquiry initiated by the Coalition.
