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November 1st, 2011 
FAKE NEWS for the Zionist agenda 
The Government is now attempting to implicate Abbott in the orchestration of the sudden Qantas move which left thousands stranded around the globe. Picture: AP
Source: AP
TONY Abbott has been forced to declare he had no prior knowledge before Saturday that Qantas would ground its fleet and lock out its workers.
The Opposition Leader faced a hostile Question Time in which the Government accused him of complicity in the Qantas strategy and turned the issue into a debate on who best would look after workers and jobs.
Mr Abbott told Parliament that on Saturday his office had been told of the Qantas action at about 4.15pm (AEDT) and he heard about it just before 5pm.
“Let me reiterate, the first I heard about it was at about a quarter to five on Saturday afternoon,” he told Parliament.
“If the Prime Minister and the Minister for Transport have any doubt, I refer them to a transcript of (Melbourne broadcaster) Steve Price where he said he was beside me when I first heard about it.
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“If I had prior notice of what Qantas was intending I would hardly have booked myself and my family on Qantas the following day.
“So I suggest to the Prime Minister and the Minister for Transport they should stop fanaticism about me and start apologising for the massive damage they have inflicted on the Australian public.”
Earlier, the Government said Mr Abbott had some “serious questions” to answer, attempting to implicate the Opposition Leader in the orchestration of the sudden Qantas move.
“These are serious questions for Mr Abbott. There is a considerable debate going on in this country with regard to these issues,” said Transport Minister Anthony Albanese.
“But Mr Abbott is almost alone in refusing to be critical at all of Qantas’ decision to lock out its workers, lock out its customers, with the inconvenience to 68,000 travellers at least in Australia and internationally.”
Mr Abbott was asked today whether someone from Qantas had spoken to him or his office about the possibility of a grounding.
“The important thing is that the Government was warned repeatedly by (Qantas CEO) Alan Joyce of the possibility of a grounding should this dispute continue,” Mr Abbott said.
“Now, the grounding of Qantas is essentially the cessation of an essential service, that’s why the Government should have taken it far more seriously, that’s why the Government should have acted sooner.”
Asked specifically about his knowledge of a grounding, Mr Abbott said: “My office was in regular contact with Qantas.
“Qantas, as anyone in Parliament House would know, have basically been patrolling the corridors of Parliament House for weeks now alerting people to the seriousness of the dispute.”
Mr Abbott, and a number of other federal Liberal and Labor MPs, spent Saturday afternoon enjoying the Derby Day hospitality at Flemmington racecourse in Melbourne.
He was aware of the Qantas issue when approached by news.com.au soon after 5pm on the day.
But Government sources today claimed it was more than coincidence that Mr Abbott called for Federal Government intervention on Friday, the day before, when news reports revealed NSW Premier Barry O’Farrell and his Victorian counterpart Ted Baillieu, both Liberals, jointly demanded Prime Minister Julia Gillard end the industrial row.
He said at the time: “Yes, this is getting worse and worse and I think it is time for the Prime Minister to get active.”
Shadow treasurer Joe Hockey had made a similar call for intervention a previous Friday, October 14, saying the Coalition would “absolutely” back it.
Government sources pointed out Qantas’ government relations executive Olivia Wirth had once worked for Mr Hockey.
Mr Albanese defended his own position, saying that Qantas CEO Alan Joyce had not in public or private “raised with me the prospect of a lock-out of its workforce and the grounding of the airline”.
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