13 Sep 2023

Australia correspondent Karen Middleton

From Nine To Noon, 9:45 am on 13 September 2023
08 November 2021, Saxony, Dresden: A Qantas Airways Airbus A380 takes off from Dresden Airport. The aircraft will make the long-haul flight to Sydney following maintenance work at Elbe Flugzeugwerke (EFW). Photo: Sebastian Kahnert/dpa-Zentralbild/dpa (Photo by Sebastian Kahnert / dpa-Zentralbild / dpa Picture-Alliance via AFP)

Photo: Sebastian Kahnert/dpa-Zentralbild/dpa via AFP

Australia correspondent Karen Middleton joins Kathryn ahead of a High Court decision on whether Qantas acted lawfully when it sacked 1700 workers during the peak of the Covid-19 pandemic, and replaced them with outsourced casual workers.

The airline argues it needed the flexibility, but the Transport Workers Union claims it was another move in Qantas' recent history of trying to ward off union strike action.

Also, a new tourism campaign aiming to entice international tourists sees more than a 100% boost in Chinese visitors, month on month.

China is now the second alrgest sourtce of inbound tourists after New Zealand.

Karen Middleton is chief political correspondent for The Saturday Paper.