Qantas to remain Aussie owned

The spirit of Australia will remain mostly Australian owned.

Foreign investors will be able to up their stake in Qantas after Labor and the government struck a deal to water down ownership rules.

But the deal keeps the majority of ownership in Australia - only lifting restrictions on single foreign entities and groups of foreign entities.

The government wanted to scrap foreign ownership rules altogether, meaning the airline could be bought out entirely by international investors.

But Labor wouldn't budge on that and the compromise keeps 51 per cent of ownership in the hands of Australians.

Single foreign investors were previously limited to 25 per cent while aggregate ownership by foreign airlines could not exceed 35 per cent.

The government's changes were intended to bring Qantas ownership rules in line with other Australian-based airlines.

They would remove "regulatory handcuffs" not imposed on competitors like Virgin and boost the company's efforts to return to profit, government minister David Johnston said.

But in the interest of getting at least parts of their bill through, the government agreed to Labor amendments in what the Greens called a "disturbing" deal.

Crossbencher John Madigan echoed that sentiment, saying the bill had "fallen victim to backroom deals".

The Greens, the Palmer United Party and ally Motoring Enthusiast Party senator Ricky Muir strongly opposed the changes, but didn't have the numbers to block it.

"Qantas is the spirit of Australia, not the spirit of China," PUP senator Glenn Lazarus said.

"It is the flying beloved kangaroo, not the flying gecko."

Because of the amendments the bill must go back to the House of Representatives for the tick of approval.