The Queensland grants come after the federal government has so far poured more than $17 million into regional airports across NSW, Victoria and Western Australia, also as part of the fourth round of the Regional Airports Program.

The milestone includes combat operations conducted by all three variants of the aircraft. Notably, November 2024 marked the first time the carrier-based F-35C was deployed in combat, successfully striking targets in contested airspace.

Released this week in the lead-up to International Women’s Day on Saturday, the data from the Workplace Gender Equality Agency (WGEA) shows that the median pay gap at Qantas Group was 32.4 per cent in 2023–24 for total remuneration, compared to 46.2 per cent at Virgin.

Parker, who served as Qantas’ chief sustainability officer for three years before his departure in 2024, previously worked as a senior vice president at Emirates covering areas such as international affairs and environment.