The chief executives of Australia’s major airlines have warned they will not be silent on social issues, with Qantas’s Alan Joyce arguing it was not just “morally right” but also in its business interests to fight for marriage equality. At the National Press Club on Wednesday Joyce and Virgin Australia’s Paul Scurrah both pushed back against calls from Scott Morrison and his assistant minister, Ben Morton, for corporates to resist social campaigning on issues including the environment. The pair appeared side by side as part of a joint industry call for the government to impose arbitration processes on airport monopolies, which they argued were earning super-profits and driving up airfares through “grossly inflated” charges.