To all our supporters,

The fight continues. Together, we will soldier on!

Please see below my response to Mr. Andrew McGinnes's letter dated 26.04.2019.

On Fri, Apr 26, 2019, at 11:39 PM Andrew McGinnes <andrewmcginnes@qantas.com.au> wrote:

Dear Fuzzy

Thanks for taking the time to send this through; we’ll make sure it is sent to the Chairman.

Your desire to see your QF72 colleagues receive recognition through formal civil honours is very admirable. However, please understand that the national awards process is well outside of our control.

By way of quick explanation, the Council for the Order of Australia is an independent advisory body that meets twice yearly to consider nominations and make recommendations to the Governor-General on who should receive awards in the Order of Australia. The Council also recommends the level of award. There’s more information here: https://www.gg.gov.au/nominating-frequently-asked-questions-faq

We don’t have a practice of nominating employees for National Awards. However, if the flight crew of QF72 were nominated for an award, we’d happily consider supporting that nomination through a reference, which is an important part of the assessment process.

As I mentioned in my email to you last October, Qantas has previously recognised the outstanding contribution of the QF72 flight deck and cabin crew during that event in various forums. Recent media coverage (including the widely read Good Weekend article and the Air Crash Investigations episode) has also meant the actions of crew have been widely recognised. The tremendous job the crew did is, I think it’s fair to say, a matter of public record.  And as you know, more publicity will flow from the release of Captain Sullivan’s book next month.  

I realise this may not be the answer you wanted but I hope that it helps make clear the avenue for you to continue to your pursuit of a national award for the crew.

In terms of your upcoming visit to Sydney; we would be happy to arrange a meeting with some relevant Qantas personnel but given we are unable to assist with the type of recognition you outline in your letter (except by way of a supporting reference, as explained above) please let me know if there is another matter that you think would be helpful to meet and discuss.

Kind regards,

Andrew

Andrew McGinnes
Executive Manager, Corporate Affairs and Communications
Qantas Airways Limited
10 Bourke Road, Mascot NSW 2020

Thurs, Apr 30, 2019, at 07:59 PM 

from: Fuzzy Maiava <qantasflight72@gmail.com>
to:
Andrew McGinnes <andrewmcginnes@qantas.com.au> cc:
alanjoyce@qantas.com.au

Dear Mr. Andrew McGinnes and Mr. Alan Joyce,

Thank you, Mr. McGinnes, for your response to the email and I appreciate you sending it on to the Chairman.

However, I still have some topics I would like to address with you. My first concern is, I still haven’t received a formal response from Mr. Joyce himself. I understand the CEO of Qantas is busy, but as I said in my last letter, he has the time to address the 10-year-old boy, which is great, but why can’t he address my letters on one of the more serious matters Qantas has faced - QF72.

Thank you for clarifying the process, as I understand you don’t formally have a process for nominating - although I do believe you should - really I am more focused on why Qantas themselves have not recognise these men.

All the “various” forums you mention including recent media, the Air Crash Investigation episode, as well as Captain Sullivan’s book release, are not recognition given by Qantas.

These are examples of others who have spoken about the incident, but please tell me what Qantas has done?

Where is the public acknowledgment from Qantas? If there was such an acknowledgment, Mr. Joyce wouldn’t be ignoring my emails. If there was public acknowledgment those three men would be in possession of any form of an award from Cross of Valour to the Qantas Chairman’s Diamond Award.

Why can't Qantas just give me a straight answer? Why is it that Sullivan, Lipsett, or Hales are left unrecognised by Qantas, not by Good Weekend or any form of media, but by Qantas Group.

You say the national awards are not in the hands of Qantas, but can I just mention I did take the right methods, however with a response from Australian Deputy Prime Minister MP, Hon Michael McCormack, I was told to contact Qantas Head of Government and Public Affairs Mr. Trent Mumford to coordinate any honours or commemoration on top of the Deputy Prime Ministers referral, but I am still waiting on a response from Mr. Mumford. 

In my last letter, I said: “You’ve given other deserving men from your team recognition in the past. Captain Richard de Crespigny comes to mind in the QF32 incident. On September 2011 he was recognised for acts of valor performed in his line of duty and awarded the Qantas Chairman’s Diamond Award. A very deserving recipient, but why aren’t the three men of the QF72 incident not deserving?” Can you please answer this question for me?

I would also like to bring up one last concern with you and Mr. Joyce. Looking back on your media achieves I have noticed three articles were published with updates on QF72.

Three in the month the incidence occurred and that is it from Oct 2007 to Oct 2008, how is this possible? A near miss and no crisis management from your team? No recognition of the pilots, no nothing, others were recognised by Mr. Dixon but Sullivan, Lipsett, or Hales were not.

To address your offer of a meeting with a Qantas personal whilst I'm in Sydney would be a good outcome, however, I am looking to meet with Mr. Joyce. I would like to talk to him in person and as I understand he is a busy CEO, at the end of the day, I am a Qantas survivor. Surely that deserves a meeting with Mr. Joyce? Especially if he can take the time for others in the community, he can take the time for me. 

As I leave you, I just want to ask yourself and Mr. Joyce one last question, what would you do in my position? QF72 changed my life, it still impacts me to this day. If you were in my position and someone physically saved YOUR life, would you spend most of it being grateful for him or her every day? I think we both know the answer… so please, do the right thing.

Thanks,

Fuzzy