“The right thing to do”

The pie man, 67-year old former farmer Tony Overheu was rallying against corporate Australia’s support of the LGBT community. He had hidden in wait behind a screen for almost two hours and appeared just as Joyce started to address a 500-strong sellout crowd at the Hyatt Hotel Perth.

In an opinion piece published by The West Australian, Professor Martin, co-host of the event, said that “while the intention of the offender was clearly to harm the reputation of the Qantas CEO, the reverse applied.”

“Alan Joyce, who appeared stunned for a few moments, returned back to the stage in as little as five minutes to continue his presentation.

“Returning to the stage, taking the whole nasty incident in his stride, he quipped suggesting if there were any more pies to be thrown, he would prefer that we he would have them thrown “now” – to get it over with!” Asking the question what this showed about the Qantas CEO’s leadership, Professor Martin said that “it showed that Alan Joyce is a remarkably resilient leader – someone who is able to “bounce back” quickly and stronger than before! It is no wonder that Qantas has become such a successful company under Mr Joyce’s leadership – he is a remarkably passionate and resilient leader who is able to take setbacks in his stride and use them to become stronger. The Qantas turnaround is evidence of this.”

period of time, this is different, but it’s not unusual. It is an unusual event, but things like this have happened in the past,” he said.

“We were there for a very serious event, to talk about the opportunity that this Perth to London has, it was to talk to a lot of our customers, a lot of our suppliers and I’m glad I still had the opportunity to be able to communicate to them.”

Overheu explained his actions in a statement.

“Middle Australia completely rejects corporate bullying aimed at social engineering….and Qantas is insulting many staff and passengers with their boarding pass propaganda,” he said.

“CEOs need to respect Australia is a democracy where backdoor attempts to subvert the clear wishes of the overwhelming majority will cost companies’ bottom lines.”

Yet lobbying by all sectors of the Australian community and business is their democratic right and religious groups of all persuasions have always been part of that process and so it should be.

Joyce is proceeding with charges against Overheu and has reaffirmed his stand of speaking out for minorities and the LBGT community.

“I’ve long held the view that there is a role for companies and CEOs to speak up on economic and social issues. My opinion on this has not changed,” he said in a statement.

“Qantas has proudly represented Australia for more than 90 years.

And being Australian means giving everyone in society an opportunity and the chance of a fair go.

“As the national carrier, Qantas has a role to play in being part of the public debate on a range of areas from tax reform to international trade.

“We’ll continue to speak about important social issues including indigenous reconciliation, gender diversity and marriage equality, because it’s the right thing to do.”

“If anything, while the “pie in the face” was meant to make the Qantas CEO squirm, the opposite applied. Guests leaving the event commented on Alan’s Joyce remarkable resilience.”

Professor Martin summed up saying that “if there is any good to come from today’s disgraceful event – it is the lessons for leaders and managers: great leaders are resilient!” There is no question that Joyce’s reaction was extraordinary. When the incident occurred he simple excused himself so he could clean up and promised he would return in a few minutes.

And when he did there was a standing ovation.

Speaking afterwards, Joyce, said after nine years in his role, he had never experienced anything like it.

“When you’ve been the CEO of an airline for nine years, there’s a lot of things that have happened over that