Federal government to intervene in transport union’s high court fight against Qantas

Tony Burke to appear in court as airline seeks to overturn November decision which found it illegally outsourced ground staff jobsFollow our Australia news live blog for the latest updatesGet our morning and afternoon news emails, free app or daily news podcastThe federal government will join the Transport Workers’ Union’s (TWU) high court fight with Qantas as the airline bids to overturn a ruling that it illegally outsourced 1,700 ground handlers’ jobs.The workplace relations minister, Tony Burke, filed a notice of appearance on 16 January to intervene in the case, in which Qantas hopes to overturn a full federal court decision exposing it to a mammoth compensation bill for laying off staff at 10 airports in November 2020.Sign up for Guardian Australia’s free morning and afternoon email newsletters for your daily news roundup