DOME
Its a problem when facts get in the way of a good whine isn't it.
Nice try. Unfortunately, you omitted to mention that Qantas too, has a vested interest in the bookings process. Through its subsidiary Qantas Business Travel, QF is, to use your words, also an "outsourced travel provider" to the Commonwealth.
The Canberra Times report I mentioned notes that Qantas Business Travel administers a domestic air travel contract with the Department of Defence, estimated to be worth around $150 million per year. The report also mentions that QF enjoys a similar contract with the Department of Transport and Regional Development. Nice work if you can get it - especially with guaranteed account payment from public funds.
But what really raises the eyebrow is the lack of transparency and arm’s lengthness in such an arrangement - a critical issue given jobs are on the line and that the whole operation is financed from the public purse.
What independent guarantee is there that QF Business Travel, when booking public service travel, doesn't exploit its glaring conflict of interest to the detriment of its competitors?