Taking the Sale Act out of Qantas - a one-off opportunity missed as amendment fizzles out

Qantas is expected to post a loss of between AUD700 million and AUD1 billion for the full 2013/14 financial year to 30-Jun-2014 and now faces the unsettling reality that the Qantas Sale Act (QSA) isn't going anywhere.

Australia's Federal Government retreated on the planned Qantas Sale Amendment Bill 2014 that would have repealed part three of the QSA, recognising it wouldn't pass the Senate, and agreed to side with the Australian Labor Party (ALP) to remove foreign ownership limits. The largely pointless compromise revision was adopted on 18-Jul-2014.

The previous provisions prevented any single airline investor holding more than 25% of Qantas and of total foreign airline investment of 35%, capping the total foreign investment at 49%. The new provision simply caps foreign ownership at 49%, with no airline restrictions.