Qantas dispute threatening Australia’s economy, Australian Prime Minister Julia Gillard says

The Qantas industrial dispute could have serious economic consequences, Australia's prime minister has warned.

Julia Gillard was speaking on the sidelines of the Commonwealth leaders summit in Perth. Around 17 delegations to the "heads of government" meeting were booked to fly home on Qantas.

"The rapid escalation of this dispute today, what we are saying is a circumstance with this industrial dispute that could have implications for our national economy," Gillard told reporters.

"I believe Australians want to see this dispute settled, I want to see it settled," she said.

Asked if the government should get involved, Gillard reportedly said: "I am maintaining regular briefings with the relevant ministers about the Qantas dispute, so I'm making sure that I am continuously informed about it."

The decision by Qantas to ground its entire fleet worldwide indefinitely until unions representing pilots and maintenance and ground staff retract their demands and discontinue strike action has hit one sector o the economy immediately and hard.

Australia's tourism industry estimates the financial impact of the Qantas grounding has at $80 million so far, with fears the damage could climb as high as $150 million a day if the dispute — between unions and Qantas management — continues.

“There’s no winners in this, we need Qantas to fly,” said John Lee, the head of the Transport and Tourism Forum, according to the Herald Sun newspaper.

With Australia's "Spring Carnival" racing season in full swing — the highlight of which is the Melbourne Cup, run every year in Melbourne on the first Tuesday in November — the impact of the Qantas groundings may reach $100 million, Lee reportedly said. Numerous package deals to visit Melbourne for the Cup have reportedly been thrown into doubt.

Lee said the greatest impact would be felt by small firms and causal workers, "particularly in northern Australia," which is unreachable except by plane.

“There will be bigger questions about the reliability of our economy and of productivity if we can’t get this resolved quickly,” he said, the Herald Sun reports.