Graham Perrett (Moreton, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Hansard source

I rise to speak in support of the Civil Aviation Amendment Bill 2009 and the Transport Safety Investigation Amendment Bill 2009. Before I do so, I thought I would declare any possible conflict of interest for the benefit of the House. The first declaration is that I, too, have a general aviation airport in my electorate—Archerfield Airport—and have a long family history with that airport. In fact, I think my grandfather drove bulldozers there back in World War II when the American air force was based there. Also, I live in Moorooka and used to live in Tarragindi, and nearly every single plane that goes into Brisbane Airport coming from the south flies right over my electorate. In fact, when I used to live in Tarragindi, they seemed to fly right over my bedroom. Also, as a member of parliament, obviously, I get to inspect a lot of airports—mainly Brisbane and Canberra airports, but we do wander around the country a bit and see a lot of airports.

I turn now to the legislation before the House. I will firstly say that, although it is not perfect, Australia’s aviation safety record is the envy of the world. In Australia, aviation accidents and fatalities are extremely infrequent, and the Australian Transport Safety Bureau found that air travel is the safest travel option in Australia. As I said, we do have a very, very proud history. If we look at Qantas, the Queensland and Northern Territory Aerial Services, it has a proud record—a record known round the world, in fact. I take your mind back to the movie Rain ManI am talking about the movie Rain Man, not the former environment minister, the member for Wentworth, and his cloud-seeding experiment but the movie Rain Man that had Dustin Hoffman in it—where there was that famous exchange between Tom Cruise and Dustin Hoffman. Tom Cruise was playing the character Charlie, and Raymond was played by Dustin Hoffman. I will just quote that exchange, which was a very popular piece of footage on Qantas in-flight movies but which was not shown on any other airline’s in-flight movies. The Tom Cruise character, Charlie, says:

All airlines have crashed at one time or another. That doesn’t mean that they are not safe.

Raymond, the autistic brother, says:

Qantas. Qantas never crashed.

Charlie says:

Qantas?

Raymond says:

Yes, never crashed.

Charlie says:

Oh, that’s gonna do me a lot of good because Qantas doesn’t fly to Los Angeles out of Cincinnati, you have to get to Melbourne! Melbourne, Australia in order to get the plane that flies to Los Angeles! Do you hear me?

Then Raymond’s response is:

Canberra’s the capital. 16.2 million population.

And then Charlie lets go. That exchange illustrates the proud history of safety in Australian air transport. Not only does this safety record ensure that there is greater peace of mind for frequent flyers; it also helps boost confidence in related industries like tourism and freight, so that, when we do a pitch to the world, we are able to do so with a lot more substance.

But unfortunately we have not been without incident. Only last year, Qantas passenger aircraft were involved in three significant incidents. Maybe the Rain Man of today would not have that exchange. Thankfully, serious accidents were avoided and no-one was badly injured or killed. However, last year 38 people died as a result of air transport, general aviation and recreational aviation activities. Air safety is something we should never take for granted and something which should remain a top priority for industry and for government. No matter how good our aviation record is, Australia must strive to do even better. Government and industry must work together to ensure the Australian aviation industry remains one of the best and safest in the world.

The Rudd government released the national aviation policy green paper Flight path to the future in December last year. I know this paper involved a broad consultation process with industry, and they received a number of submissions from all around Australia. I especially noted some submissions from aviation interests in my electorate, particularly those people connected with the Archerfield Airport. I would like to particularly mention them: the president, Lindsay Snell, who has taken me for an inspection of Archerfield Airport in his helicopter; the executive officer, Ross Steele, who works tirelessly for the Archerfield Airport Chamber of Commerce; the vice-president, David McGrath; the secretary, Clement Grehan; and the treasurer, Des Harrison. All of these people are pilots connected with the Archerfield Airport in my electorate and they do fantastic work. Brisbane’s secondary airport has long been a magnet for aviation enthusiasts and continues to provide a base for pilot training, freight and weekend pilots such as the office holders that I mentioned.

The Civil Aviation Amendment Bill 2009 implements a key policy of the green paper: to strengthen Australia’s civil watchdog, the Civil Aviation Safety Authority, more popularly known as CASA. The bill gives CASA greater powers to enforce safety standards and improves the governance of CASA by establishing a CASA board. The board will provide strategic oversight and direction for air safety and will ensure that CASA performs effectively. The five-member board will be appointed by the minister for terms not exceeding three years. However, the minister will still be limited from directing CASA on certain matters to ensure that decisions are made in the interests of air safety, not political interest. The board will also consider the future directions of air safety and the implications of new technologies and other changes in the industry as they come online.

As I said previously, this bill also strengthens CASA’s power to enforce air safety standards. For example, a new offence of the negligent carriage of dangerous goods will be created. This effectively closes a loophole to ensure that carriers take appropriate care when transporting dangerous goods on an aircraft. The bill also gives CASA greater powers relating to overseas based operators who are flying to Australia. Before allowing a flight to enter Australia, CASA will be able to take into account the conduct of the air operator and the level of safety oversight provided by civil aviation authorities in other countries. This measure will help build confidence that aircraft entering Australian skies comply with appropriate safety measures. These extra powers will also ensure that CASA can take reasonable steps to enforce air safety while not placing an unnecessary burden on the industry.

In addition to the increased powers and better governance for CASA, the government is also committed to boosting the independence of the Australian Transport Safety Bureau. The Transport Safety Investigation Amendment Bill will establish the Australian Transport Safety Bureau as an independent statutory authority from 1 July 2009. In his 2007 review, Russell Miller recommended that the government address the independence of the ATSB and clarify its role as the national safety investigation agency. These amendments will achieve this. The position of executive directors will be replaced by commissioners appointed by the minister. Apart from having matters referred for investigation, the Australian Transport Safety Bureau will be able to exercise its powers without any interference.

Travel is such a vital and important part of modern life, particularly in a nation like Australia that is such a large continent. As a Queenslander, coming from the most decentralised state, I am particularly passionate about air travel and transport in all forms. Whether we are travelling to work, to visit friends or just for fun, everybody has a right to expect that their journey will be a safe one. Unfortunately, this is not always the case. I accept, and I think we can all acknowledge, that sometimes accidents happen and sometimes people make mistakes, but it is our responsibility as a government to ensure that we do whatever we can to keep our roads, rails, skies and waterways safe. It is also our responsibility to ensure that mechanisms are in place to thoroughly investigate breaches of safety, that dodgy transport operators are held accountable and that measures are put in place to ensure that mistakes do not happen again. Any smart society knows that you learn from your mistakes rather than keep repeating them. These bills work together to improve transport safety for everyone. I thank the transport minister for his commitment to improving transport safety and his work in introducing these bills. I commend the bills to the House.

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