Coalition senator wants ex-Qantas boss Alan Joyce stripped of Order of Australia honour

Former Qantas boss Alan Joyce should be stripped of his Order of Australia honour for damage caused to the airline industry, a Coalition senator believes.

Opposition backbencher James McGrath told Senate estimates he planned to asked Governor-General Sam Mostyn to review Mr Joyce’s award, which was bestowed on him in 2017 for services to the aviation and tourism industries.

Senator McGrath said “most Australians” would agree Mr Joyce had brought the aviation industry into disrepute, citing the series of lawsuits brought against Qantas during his tumultuous 15-year tenure.

He argued the Order of Australia Council had set new, lower, standard for rescinding honours after stripping former Home Affairs boss Mike Pezzullo of his Order of Australia in September.

Mr Pezzullo was stripped of his honour after he was found to have breached the Australian public service conduct of conduct following revelations of back-channel communications with a Liberal Party powerbroker.

He was sacked from the secretary post in November 2023.

“So I shall be writing then, to the Governor General, and asking for a review of Mr Alan Joyce’s honour under the Order of Australia, considering the damage that he has done to the aviation sector in Australia, considering the many legal cases that went against him in terms of his management of Qantas,” Senator McGrath said.

“And I look forward to the council, making an appropriate decision in line with the Pezzullo precedent that has now been set.”