Qantas CEO Alan Joyce to marry longtime partner

Qantas CEO, Alan Joyce is reportedly marrying his partner, Shane Lloyd at a ceremony in Sydney early next month.

As the second anniversary of Australian marriage equality nears, the couple has decided to tie the knot in Circular Quay at the Museum of Contemporary Art where Mr Joyce is a member of the board, reported The Sydney Morning Herald.

The couple, who have been together for more than 20 years, were high-profile campaigners during the 2017 campaign for same-sex marriage with Joyce making a $1 million donation to the ‘yes’ campaign.

Joyce spoke of the emotional turnout of the vote and his pride in Australia when talking to London reporters in November 2017.

“It was a big relief and there was just all the tears,” Joyce said.

“It was an amazing occasion. I’m very proud of Australia. I’m very proud of the country that I’ve now lived in. I was very proud of Ireland two years ago, but I was even prouder of Australia with this result.”

At the time Joyce joked that his partner hadn’t proposed yet.

“My partner hasn’t built up the courage to ask me yet! I’m still waiting for that, so hopefully,” he said.

Joyce met the New Zealand-born Lloyd in Melbourne 20 years ago and share a house at The Rocks in Sydney. 

2019 has been a big year for Joyce, with the 53-year-old topping the list of Australia’s highest-paid CEOs earlier in September. According to the Australian Council of Superannuation Investors, Irish-born Joyce made a whopping $23,876,351 last year, which is more than 270 times the national average.

Despite this major turn in profit, The Sydney Morning Herald reports that Joyce wants to keep the event as low-key as possible. The Australian reports that the wedding will happen in November – the same month that Qantas will mark its 99 anniversary on November 16. 

A big month deserves a big year for the CEO, with Joyce relaunching Qantas’ lucrative frequent flyer scheme, testing groundbreaking new flight paths Sydney, New York and London, controversially speaking out against climate change ‘panic’ and even rejecting Prime Minister Scott Morrison’s call to be silent on social issues.

Earlier in September, Joyce and Virgin Australia CEO Paul Scurrah both pushed back against calls from Scott Morrison and his assistant, Ben Morton, for corporate industries to resist social campaigning on issues such as climate change. 

Appearing side by side at the National Press Club, Joyce argued it was not just “morally right” but also in Qantas’ business interests to fight for major social issues, such as marriage equality.

“We’re not going to pull back on what we say on social issues, because that’s important to our employees, our customers and our shareholders,” he told reporters.