Don’t ‘manterrupt’, Qantas tells its crews

THE Australian airline Qantas has been accused of operating a “corporate thought police” after advising staff to stop “manterrupting” and to avoid using words such as husband, wife, mum and dad.

A Spirit of Inclusion information pack gives a list of potentially offensive terms, and tells staff to “minimise manterruptions”, in which men at the workplace “interrupt and speak over women”. They were also told to describe the arrival of the British in the late 1700s as an invasion or occupation rather than a settlement.

The guidance went on: “Always using the terms ‘husband’ and ‘wife’ can reinforce the idea that people are always in heterosexual relationships. In the same way, referring to ‘mum and dad’ can make many families feel excluded.” While the move was welcomed in some quarters, others were not so happy.

The pack, leaked to Sydney’s Daily Telegraph tabloid newspaper, was reported under the front-page headline “Mumbo Jumbo”.

And Tony Abbott, a former prime minister of Australia, said it was “political correctness gone way over the top”.

He told 2GB Radio: “It’s just rubbish this idea that we need a corporate thought police.”