EXPLANATORY STATEMENT
Qantas Sale Amendment Proclamation 2014
Item 2 of the table in subsection 2(1) of the Qantas Sale Amendment Act 2014 (the Act) provides that Schedule 1 to the Act will commence on a day to be fixed by Proclamation. If the provisions have not commenced by Proclamation within the 6 month period beginning on the day on which the Act receives the Royal Assent, they will commence automatically on the first day after the end of that 6 month period. The Act received the Royal Assent on 8 August 2014.
The purpose of the Proclamation is to fix 25 August 2014 as the day on which Schedule 1 to the Act commences.
Schedule 1 removes the 25 and 35 per cent foreign ownership restrictions under section 7(1)(aa) and 7(1)(b) of the Qantas Sale Act 1992. The amendments will allow Qantas to accept single foreign investor shareholdings above 25 per cent and accept aggregate foreign airline shareholdings above 35 per cent. Removing these restrictions, which currently apply to Qantas but to no other Australian based airline, will increase Qantas’ ability to compete in the domestic and international aviation markets and help improve its long term viability.
The Proclamation is a legislative instrument for the purposes of the Legislative Instruments Act 2003.