Nola Marino (Forrest, Liberal Party) Share this | Hansard source

Safety and security are the most important issues for Australia’s aviation industry, and Australian travellers rightly expect the highest standard from regulators to trainers, from air traffic controllers to pilots and from attendants right through to maintenance crews and security staff. The bills before the House, the Civil Aviation Amendment Bill 2009 and the Transport Safety Investigation Amendment Bill 2009, seek to improve governance of the Civil Aviation Safety Authority and establish the Australian Transport Safety Bureau as a statutory agency.

The Civil Aviation Amendment Bill 2009 will mainly amend the Civil Aviation Act 1988 to reintroduce a board to govern the Civil Aviation Safety Authority and make improvements to the aviation safety regulatory regime under the act. In December 2008 the government released the national aviation policy green paper, Flight path to the future. The paper was the result of an industry consultation process and will serve as the foundation of a white paper due in late 2009. The matters covered in Flight path to the future were wide-ranging in scope, including aviation safety issues, and I note that the government stated that it would strengthen safety issues as well as strengthen the Civil Aviation Safety Authority by its retention as an independent statutory agency with responsibility for aviation safety regulation.

The government intends to reinforce CASA’s governance arrangements. That includes establishing a small expert board to guide the organisation and to recommend enhancements to CASA’s approach to regulation and surveillance of airlines. It will also strengthen CASA’s regulatory powers to inspect and regulate the operation of international carriers to ensure safety standards are met. It will update the regulatory powers and enforcement provisions in the Civil Aviation Act 1988, ensuring the effective management of future safety risks as well as giving CASA the necessary powers to deal effectively with operations that do not meet safety standards.

The Civil Aviation Amendment Bill 2009 strengthens CASA’s capacity to access information on suspected safety deficiencies through self-reporting by operators, affirming the obligation on AOC holders to notify CASA immediately of any failures in safety compliance and ensuring CASA’s penalty provisions provide a balanced and effective range of responses to breaches. The government is seeking to implement these commitments through the bill. A further commitment by the government following the release of Flight path to the future is to strengthen the independence of the Australian Transport Safety Bureau as a safety investigation agency as part of a statutory agency within the infrastructure portfolio working under a commission structure. This commitment is provided through the associated bill, the Transport Safety Investigation Amendment Bill 2009.

Aspects of the Civil Aviation Amendment Bill 2009 dealing with the CASA governance have also been influenced by the inquiry of the Senate Standing Committee on Rural and Regional Affairs and Transport into the administration of the Civil Aviation Safety Authority and related matters. Recommendation 1 was that:

… the Australian Government strengthen CASA’s governance framework and administrative capability by:

• introducing a small board of up to five members to provide enhanced oversight and strategic direction for CASA; and
• undertaking a review of CASA’s funding arrangements to ensure CASA is equipped to deal with new regulatory challenges.

As I said previously, safety is the most critical issues to passengers and all others involved in the aviation industry. Recent incidents involving Qantas simply reinforced basic safety issues to both passengers and airlines. In fact, these incidents were reported in the January 2009 edition of the European based Flight International magazine in its incidents and accidents listing. Under the category of ‘significant non-fatal incidents worldwide’ the actual events listed were the loss of electrical power in a Boeing 747 approaching Bangkok airport in January, the onboard explosive decompression over the Philippines in July and the unexpected drop in altitude for those aboard an Airbus A330 flying over north-west Australia in October 2008. These three incidents involved over a thousand people. Fortunately, all survived, but each incident reminded us why we cannot take air travel safety for granted.

The government has introduced these bills but conversely has apparently cut the number of armed air marshals by 35 to 40 per cent. These are the specially trained people who have secretly protected Australian passengers and aircraft with great effect since September 11. This was a $55-million-a-year program. I also understand that the government halted the terrorism awareness training program known as Operation Hawkeye, due to have been implemented at airports right around Australia in 2007. In fact, it was reported in the Australian on 24 February:

Airport staff, including front-counter ticketing officers, baggage handlers and cleaners, have not been given basic terrorism awareness training, despite it being a requirement under federal laws brought in after the September 11 attacks.

The article quoted counterterrorism expert Nick O’Brien, of Charles Sturt University’s centre for policing, as saying:

Considering al-Qa’ida is still interested in aviation as a target … there is nothing wrong with awareness training if it is being provided by the AFP or aviation authorities.

The expansion of aviation transport, especially into regional areas, enhancing tourism and regional economies, is extremely important. The Western Australian government has a new tourism campaign, launched recently, ‘Holiday at Home’. It has, by recent accounts, received overwhelming support. A recent survey indicated that Western Australians believe that, in the current economic circumstances, they should be holidaying at home instead of overseas. Many of those will be holidaying in our state and in my part of the state, rediscovering local world-class destinations and enjoying the convenience and value for money of holidaying at home while injecting much needed income into regional economies. It is not surprising, however, that total inbound visitor arrivals are estimated to drop by 4.2 per cent in 2009. Tourism operators and their employees in the industry will continue to be hard hit because the government has failed to support the industry during the global financial crisis.

The coalition, when in government, delivered additional support for the tourism industry to assist during times of global crisis. The support included the $79 million tourism recovery initiative, the $10 million SARS recovery package and a special $8 million funding boost for the former regional tourism program to help regional communities increase tourism sales. The Rudd government, in its first budget, introduced nearly $1 billion of new tourism taxes this year, including a 24 per cent increase in the passenger movement charge. This saw the charge increase from $38 to $47 and is an extra cost to airlines, agents, tourism operations and flying travellers. This has hit the aviation industry at a time when it is already struggling with rising costs and economic uncertainty. Should the government implement all 84 recommendations of the Beale report, that would impose an additional $1 billion in taxes on the tourism industry over the forward estimates, which is of even more concern. That would be $2 billion of new government tourism taxes in two years.

Tourism is a key economic driver for Western Australia, generating 80,000 jobs and injecting $7 billion into the economy, with over $2 billion of this spent in regions like my own. With over 483,000 Australians employed in the sector, I believe the government should explain how the $2 billion of tourism taxes will help tourism operators keep their doors open and retain Australian jobs during this period. Regional tourism is hurting. In the south-west in my electorate during the Christmas holiday period, forward orders and bookings were down by a record 10 per cent. Over summer the Busselton, Dunsborough and Margaret River areas are traditionally packed with holiday-makers. These are very difficult times indeed for regional tourism. In the Augusta Margaret River Times on Friday, 23 January the CEO of the tourism association, Francine Burton, confirmed what operators feared most: a 10 per cent slide in visits during the peak January period. And visitors who did come were spending less.

Jobs, jobs and jobs in the tourism industry require visitor growth, staff training and infrastructure projects such as regional airports, rail and road upgrades, particularly the Bunbury Outer Ring Road, the Perth to Bunbury highway, a dual highway to Margaret River and the Perimeter Road. I commend the launch of the WA government’s marketing campaign aimed at keeping those tourism dollars in the state. It also targets travellers from the eastern side—this side—of Australia as well as Singapore, one of Australia’s largest tourism markets. The federal government’s first budget provided an eight per cent decrease in total tourism spending, including a $5.9 million funding cut for Tourism Australia, and the Australian Tourism Development Program was cut by nearly half, from $29.9 million to just $16 million. In addition to the increase in the passenger movement charges, passport fees jumped by four per cent and visa application fees rose by $25.

A regional airport is very important to my south-west. Currently there are no domestic scheduled services for the holidaying public at any of the airstrips in my electorate. Air movements are serviced by local charter aircraft and privately owned planes. A regional airport facility located in this area would indeed enhance tourism numbers to the region, both of interstate and overseas visitors. It is interesting to note that the 2007 statistics for general aviation in Western Australia, excluding major airlines and regional airlines, showed 1,384 active aircraft flew a total of 394,300 hours. They show 145,300 hours were spent on charter, 110,500 were spent on training, 81,700 were spent on undertaking aerial work involving surveying, photography, mustering and ambulance transport and 30,200 hours were spent on private business.

Population growth is increasingly strong in my south-west. It is one of the three fastest-growing regions in Australia, and major infrastructure works are needed for future economic growth in the region. As I have stated before in this House, the population of the shire of Busselton increased by over 7,000 people from 1996 to 2006, an increase of 43 per cent. Over the same period, the state population grew by only 15 per cent. The Busselton shire has a strategy to cater for an additional 11,000 to 12,000 people over the next 15 to 20 years. An expanded airport service will be a necessity to cater for the extra activity in the region. The shire has also identified that the Busselton airport needs to be upgraded and expanded to become a regional airport with domestic services to attract workers and tourists from Perth and interstate. Of course, any expansion would have to deal with avoidance areas, residential estates, sensitive rural activity and noise factors. Currently there are 25 aircraft housed at Busselton airport, and training aircraft regularly take off and land.

The Royal Flying Doctor Service conducts regular training and patient pick-ups out of Busselton. In fact, the Royal Flying Doctor Service in Western Australia is kept very busy throughout the whole state and needs to be strongly supported to continue providing invaluable services to remote and regional areas. In 2006-07 the RFDS travelled over five million kilometres, flew over 16,000 hours, transferred over 6,000 patients, conducted over 1,600 clinics and made over 24,000 telehealth calls. In my electorate in the 2007-08 year, the RFDS transferred 768 patients from south-west hospitals, including 493 from Bunbury, 104 from Busselton, 61 from Manjimup, 47 from Collie, 28 from Margaret River, 19 from Bridgetown and eight from Augusta. As a result, we need to have continued investment in regional aviation infrastructure to ensure these and future services are aligned with the needs of regional Australians.

The problems at the Perth domestic airport are an example of planning and expansion that have not kept pace with growth. As Geoffrey Thomas reported in the West Australian on Monday, 2 March:

Rapid passenger growth, congested air space and big demand from mining companies’ fly in, fly out workforces have combined to turn Perth Airport into Australia’s most disjointed and dysfunctional, with the worst record in the country for late departures … with only 64 per cent of flights leaving on time.

…            …            …

Thirty minute-plus delays are not uncommon.

Airservices Australia, the government operator of the air traffic control system, has completed a major review of airlanes into the Perth Airport area in an effort to minimise delays. The 61 per cent growth in movements of large aircraft in the past five years has exceeded all expectations and is at the root of the problems at the airport. In 2007-08 the airport was bulging, handling 9.17 million passengers, which is a 73 per cent leap in just five years. That is four times more than the population of Western Australia.

I am also concerned that the green paper makes no mention of flying clubs and instead places its emphasis on training with universities. Beatrice Thomas reported in the West Australian on 18 February that the WA aeroclub warned that flying clubs are under threat from the government’s proposed reforms aligning flight schools with universities and also that pilot training could be compromised by the move. The president of the aeroclub, Jack Gregor, said clubs already affected by the slump in the aviation industry would suffer if stripped of training income and believes that practical tuition is better served by flying clubs. It is very important that the government responds to stakeholders in the aviation industry to ensure that the local flight schools and aeroclubs continue their practical, hands-on training.

The green paper proposed a five-member board, as I said earlier. That board would appoint the CEO. However, I notice that, on 16 December, the minister announced a new CEO.

Flight path to the future examined CASA’s regulatory powers and industry interactions and considered options for voluntary and mandatory aviation safety reporting requirements, as well as increased penalties for regulatory breaches. The task force recommended that the current reform process be completed by 2011-12.

As has been said in this House previously, there is widespread support within industry for the new CASA board that will assist the organisation in managing growth and trends—trends such as low-cost carriers—as well as facilitating effective interaction between the regulator and industry. Continuous technology and other changes taking place in the aviation sector will require governance arrangements that ensure CASA is equipped to monitor and drive the safety outcomes. The new board is expected to facilitate better relations across agencies with safety responsibilities as well as assist with the integration of the industry’s and other related stakeholders’ strategy input.

The bill also states that CASA is not intended to represent sectional interests but is intended as a governance board working for overall safety benefits for the Australian community. It will involve striking a balance between the competing needs of different industry sectors and operating at a strategic level supporting CASA’s role in regulation and safety oversight. It will not be involved in day-to-day activities.

The bill also strengthens and improves CASA’s enforcement powers across a number of areas, including that of negligence in carrying dangerous goods. It extends the period of enforceable voluntary undertakings to redress identified safety deficiencies from six months to one year. The bill contains a number of changes to CASA’s investigative powers and its search and seizure procedures to bring them into line with current Commonwealth criminal justice procedures and practices. It extends powers to allow CASA to use search and seizure powers under chapter 7 of the Criminal Code. Giving CASA the ability to exercise more effective oversight of foreign aircraft operations will significantly enhance CASA’s ability to impose requirements on holders of AOCs and other permits authorising the operation of foreign registered aircraft into and out of Australia. This will ensure the provision of more information about their ability and willingness to satisfy safety requirements.

I am pleased that the government has accepted the recommendation of Mr Russell Miller to clarify the ATSB’s independence as the national safety investigation agency—something that received strong support from industry. I strongly support this civil aviation amendment and transport legislation. However, I do call on the government to fund the air marshal program.

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