Qantas Sale Amendment Bill 2014

The majority voted in favour of a motion that the member be no longer heard, which was introduced by Liberal MP Christopher Pyne.

The member referred to was the Leader of the Opposition, Labor MP Bill Shorten.

This sort of motion cuts debate short and is known as a ‘closure of Member’.(See this infosheet for more information on these types of motions. ) Passing this motion means that MP Shorten can no longer speak.

Background to the bill

The Qantas Sale Amendment Bill 2014 was introduced to remove the foreign ownership and other restrictions that apply to Qantas but do not apply to other airlines based in Australia.(Read more on ABC News and on ABC Radio's AM program. ) These restrictions include: limits on the issue and ownership of Qantas shares, the makeup of the board of directors, use of the name Qantas and the location of the head office, place of incorporation and principle place of business.(Read more in the bills digest (852 KB).)