Dublin-born Qantas boss target of more death threats
Qantas boss Alan Joyce. Photo: Getty Images
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The world's 10th-largest airline grounded its entire fleet on Saturday following weeks of strikes by its workers.
DUBLIN-born Qantas boss Alan Joyce has received another death threat – just hours after he went public on the campaign against him.
After the first media coverage, at around 5pm on Wednesday, another threatening email landed in Mr Joyce's inbox.
The email sent to the Tallaght born businessman is understood to have stated clearly that the sender was “going to get you.''
Qantas had no official comment to make today, but police from the Botany Bay area command confirmed they had been notified of the email and were investigating.
Earlier this week it was revealed that Mr Joyce had been forced to hire bodyguards after receiving chilling death threats.
He was advised to review the security at his Australian home after he was sent a typed letter, reading: "It's coming Paddy."
The threats come as Mr Joyce, who has been CEO of the airline since 2008, faces unprecedented pressure, as unions fight his planned restructure that would see 1,000 staff shed.
The bitter industrial dispute has already seen senior staff have their car windows smashed and homes damaged, because they refused to strike.
And Mr Joyce, who many blame for the planned jobs cull, took the extreme step earlier this week of sending a memo to 35,000 Qantas staff, alerting them to the threats.
The under-fire Dubliner has also taken on bodyguards to accompany him to some high-profile events.
The move comes after a typed letter was sent to his home in recent days, which read in part: "It's coming soon Paddy. You can't even see it! The Unions will fight you. . . Quantas is our airline, started and staffed by Australians, not foreign filth like you.
"All your evil plans. . . will come back to you very swiftly, & kick you (sic) Irish FOREIGN ARSE out of the country."
The threats, including another letter sent to Qantas spokeswoman and group executive government and corporate affairs head, Olivia Wirth, are being investigated by both the Australian Federal Police and New South Wales (nsw) police.
However, union chiefs yesterday denied they had anything to do with the letters.
Transport Workers Union NSW secretary Wayne Forno said he didn't believe the union was responsible for the threats, stressing: "It comes as a complete surprise to me. There's no place for violence in any industrial campaign."
He also told of his surprise that Qantas bosses had decided to make the information public, adding: "I would have thought they would be taking to police and letting police investigate."
However, Mr Joyce defended the move. In an interview with Australia's ABC radio, he said: "For me what was the spur on this was the fact that we had other employees around the company being intimidated and bullied and, as I said, their property attacked, and I just felt that this just got to a level that was unacceptable.
"It took serious consideration before we went public, but the safety of my 35,000 employees is my top concern and that outweighs any other considerations."
- Nick Bramhill and Independent.ie reporters
Irish Independent
