Exclusive: federal government coordinated letters to the women and Qatari officials when they formally rejected the request for extra routes
The coordinated timing of two key letters sent by the federal government about its decision to block extra flights forAirways, released under freedom of information, raise fresh questions about the role an incident at Doha airport played in the rejection.
The documents also reveal the Australian government heavily coordinated the timing of both letters when it formally rejected the request in July.The five women King wrote to in July had been among female passengers who in October 2020 were forced off planes at gunpoint at Doha airport and intimately examined without permission as authorities searched for the mother of a baby who had been abandoned in an airport toilet.
King initially played down the significance of the Doha airport incident in the rejection, but later acknowledged it was a factor that provided context for her decision.Details of the advice that Dfat officials provided to the transport department, the foreign minister, Penny Wong, and King herself have been redacted, as King previously claimed public interest immunity out of concern that details around her refusal of the request would damage international relations.
Separately, King’s letter to the five women informing them that no extra air rights for the Qatari carrier were being considered was sent to Marque Lawyers on 17 July, but dated 10 July.
Three days later, another email was sent from the Dfat division to the transport department following up on King’s letter to the five women. “Has the Min[ister] King letter to Marque gone out?” it said. A transport department official replied a week later that King’s letter had been sent on 17 July.
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