Plus: Crown, Rio Tinto, PwC and the rot within Australian business.
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Saturday Sep 9
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What a week for Qantas. This week we brought you searing analysis of the national carrier's corporate greed, on-the-ground perspectives from engineers and pilots, and an appraisal of the company's outgoing CEO Alan Joyce, as well as predictions for his successor Vanessa Hudson and the board.

Elsewhere we brought you a delightful compendium of the latest polliewaffle from a dictionary editor, new perspectives on the Indigenous Voice to Parliament, and a consideration of whether Australian workers — who are putting in more hours than ever — are the real productivity problem.

Thank you for supporting independent journalism. We hope you're having a brilliant weekend.
Gina Rushton Gina Rushton,
Editor
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It’s a Joyce, joke: Qantas is just capitalism doing its job properly
GUY RUNDLE

Not everyone wants to admit it, but whether Alan Joyce managed Qantas well in social terms has no bearing on the judgement of his time at the airline.

Outgoing Qantas CEO Alan Joyce (Image: AAP/Dean Lewins)
 
Once again, it seems only white men know best for Aboriginal peoples
AILEEN MORETON-ROBINSON

For many, the Voice to Parliament is swinging the pendulum too far in favour of Indigenous peoples, this nation's most impoverished inhabitants.

Peter Dutton, John Howard and Rupert Murdoch (Images: AAP/Private Media)
 
Australians are working harder than ever. Big companies are the real productivity problem
BERNARD KEANE and GLENN DYER

If there's a 'productivity crisis' in the Australian economy, it's one created by big businesses enjoying market power, not workers who have been punished for years.

RBA governor Philip Lowe (Image: AAP/Bianca De Marchi)
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‘All skeleton’: Can Qantas’ new CEO salvage an airline amid the wreckage?
MICHAEL SAINSBURY

'What she needs to realise is that she won’t get customers back until she gets the staff back,' a pilot told Crikey.

Incoming Qantas CEO Vanessa Hudson (Image: AAP/Bianca De Marchi)
 
Aviation green paper a win for Qantas with no fixes for ‘a reduction in competitive tension’
BERNARD KEANE

The government's aviation green paper has been released, and it's all good news for Qantas, with no respite for beleaguered consumers.

Infrastructure Minister Catherine King at Canberra Airport (Image: AAP/Lukas Coch)
 
‘Car breakdowns, locked gates’: AEC gears up for remote voting in the NT
JULIA BERGIN

October 14 is the day the nation votes on the Voice. But for many in remote communities, the time to cast a ballot is during the three weeks prior.

An AEC polling centre in a remote Northern Territory location (Image: Supplied/AEC)
 
With Joyce gone, it’s time for a Qantas board clean-out too
STEPHEN MAYNE

Alan Joyce is hanging up his hat as Qantas CEO — two months ahead of schedule. But who else should be following him out the door?

Incoming Qantas CEO Vanessa Hudson and exited CEO Alan Joyce (Image: AAP/Bianca De Marchi)
 
Don Draper pitches the No campaign
PATRICK MARLBOROUGH

Aghast at the recent Yes campaign advertisement featuring John Farnham, the No campaign needs to act fast. For help, they've gone to the best...

Peter Dutton, Warren Mundine and Don Draper in a brainstorming meeting (Image: Private Media)
 
Qantas, PwC, Rio Tinto, Crown, the banks — something is rotten in Australian business
BERNARD KEANE and GLENN DYER

Qantas now joins the long list of Australian companies that thought they were immune from the consequences of their contempt for the community. There are plenty of others.

Outgoing Qantas CEO Alan Joyce (Image: AAP/Bianca De Marchi)
 
Why I stand for Yes, and why that’s hard to say out loud
CLAIRE G COLEMAN

'If there are personal consequences from my stance I will live with them. If I don’t take a stand I won’t be able to live with myself.'

Claire G Coleman (Image: Jen Dainer/Supplied)
 
‘Cooker’ to ‘naccered’: The latest lingo from the world of polliewaffle
AMANDA LAUGESEN

Australia is renowned for its colourful vernacular, and the nation's politicians have been a source of some of our most vivid turns of phrase.

(Image: Zennie/Private Media)
 
Sky News to abstain from Voice endorsement, as Nine papers back Yes
JOHN BUCKLEY

In this week's Media Briefs, Sky News abstains from a Voice endorsement, Nine pumps up its own tires on the Olympics, and the Press Council rules against the Oz.

Marcia Langton (Image: AAP/Lukas Coch)
 
No-one knows why this business logo appears in the Yes campaign’s ‘You’re the Voice’ ad
CAM WILSON

The opening shot of the John Farnham-backed campaign includes something placed there by 'mistake'. But nobody will say why.

(Image: Uluru Dialogues)
 
‘Good riddance’: in the event of severe turbulence, please eject the CEO
MICHAEL SAINSBURY

'He is without a doubt the most reviled, divisive and hated CEO in the company’s history,' a Qantas pilot told Crikey of Alan Joyce's exit.

Exiting Qantas CEO Alan Joyce (Image: AAP/Joel Carrett)