Airline had no option but to take a stand, says Future Fund chief
THE Future Fund chief, David Murray, has backed Qantas in the dispute with its workforce, saying unless companies like the airline tackle entrenched union privilege Australia risks the same fate as Europe.
And he says the government is aping Europe by borrowing to buy votes.
''My European banking counterparts tell me they can't cut jobs without offering three years redundancy,'' he told a forecasting conference in Sydney.
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''We are creeping towards that in the new industrial relations framework. It gives unions a right to bargain in areas [that were] traditionally the management's prerogative.
''Australia started out after the Second World War making work arrangements a little bit more reliable, introducing the rule of law, but the process has gone too far - it gets to the point of unaffordability.
''Qantas management have no option but to do what they are doing. They are running an unviable airline