Palmer jettisons Qantas over jabs

BILLIONAIRE Clive Palmer has sold all his Qantas shares to protest against the airline’s vaccination policy.

The former federal MP tweeted to his 81,000 followers on Wednesday that his Palmer Group of companies had sold its “entire stake of Qantas shares, as a result of the airline’s stance on mandatory Covid vaccinations for all staff”.

Mr Palmer said the decision to sell was “financial” because he believed the share price would eventually be adversely affected by the airline’s policy.

“I believe that (Qantas CEO) Alan Joyce and his board have taken risks which could result in possible future legal ramifications,’’ he said.

“I believe the financial risks Qantas is taking over mandatory vaccinations of its staff leaves them exposed to future financial damages by staff who suffer side effects or worse.”

Mr Palmer (pictured) did not disclose his stake in Qantas, and it was unclear if he was also planning to sell shares in other companies that have adopted similar mandatory vaccination policies for workers, including BHP, Rio Tinto, Telstra and Medibank.

A Qantas spokeswoman said the airline had received overwhelming support from its employees and customers for vaccination requirements.

“All domestic airlines in Australia and many overseas have since introduced similar requirements,” she said.

“Having a fully vaccinated workforce will safeguard our people against the impacts of Covid-19, as well as protect our customers and the communities we fly to.”

Qantas has set a deadline of November 15 for all its frontline employees to be fully vaccinated, including pilots, cabin crew and customer-facing airport staff.

The remainder of the workforce was expected to be fully vaccinated by March 31.

Qantas shares on Wednesday closed up 1.5 per cent at $5.55.