- Ministry employee left confidential documents on plane after flying to the Middle East
- The Australian embassy would have been alerted after a “suspicious” incident
It has all the ingredients of an international spy thriller: a missing briefcase containing confidential cabinet documents, an exotic location and a looming government decision to prevent a Middle Eastern airline from expanding its presence in Australia.
No wonder, then, that the case of a bag of missing Cabinet documents has sent the Albanian government into a frenzy of conspiratorial activity.
According to the political news site. Capital summarywho first broke the news of the baffling mystery, an employee of Labor Minister Murray Watt accidentally left the documents on a plane while making a transfer through the Qatari capital, Doha, last July.
Despite alerting airline officials that the locked bag had been left on board moments after disembarkation, staff at Hamad International Airport said they were unable to locate the wallet or its secret contents.
The error later became a subject of international intrigue and Watt’s office informed the Australian embassy in Doha that he had lost the confidential documents. The embassy was also unable to locate the missing bag.
According Capital summaryThe timing of the incident raised suspicions within the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade because it occurred just a week before the Albanian government announced it would deny Qatar Airways’ bid to launch 28 additional flights to Australia.
The controversial decision sparked widespread backlash amid accusations that the ban offered an unfair commercial advantage to rivals Qantas, which had lobbied widely against Qatar Airway’s application.
A Labor employee sparked an international incident after secret documents he was carrying disappeared while changing flights at Doha Hamad International Airport in Qatar (pictured)
The worrying incident raised suspicions in government circles as it occurred on the eve of a major announcement about Qatar’s big goal of increasing its presence in Australia.
There is no suggestion that the bag contained documents referring to the Qatari decision – or any other international matter – nor that it was taken by Qatari officials.
Watt, the then Agriculture Minister, and his advisers were returning to Australia at the time after a quick visit to India and Italy on government business.
Capital Brief said the documents were related to domestic agricultural issues and were actually left on an Indian plane and not on a plane belonging to Qatar’s state airline.
Watt’s office has been contacted for comment on the embarrassing mistake. Government sources told Daily Mail Australia the saga had been kept secret within the country’s corridors of power.
Murray Watt was Labor Agriculture Minister at the time of the embarrassing mistake.
Qatar Airways has engaged in a bit of unrelated intrigue in a bid to circumvent the government’s landing restriction, with revelations this week that it was to buy a 25 per cent stake in Virgin Australia.
Virgin Australia revealed the Middle Eastern airline was taking a 25 per cent stake in its company.
The deal, which will be subject to Foreign Investment Review Board approval, would allow flights from Australia’s four largest cities to Doha, under an aircraft and crew leasing agreement.
Qatar Airways and Virgin Australia are aligned from 2022
In a statement, Virgin said the proposed minority stake would create “more choice and better value for Australians”.
“Domestic competition in Australia depends on Virgin Australia thriving through the inevitable ups and downs of aviation.”
The deal would be closed through the Gulf airline’s acquisition of 25 percent of Virgin owner Bain Capital’s stake.
“This partnership provides the missing piece to Virgin Australia’s long-term strategy and is a huge vote of confidence in Australian aviation,” said Virgin Australia CEO Jayne Hrdlicka.