Tony Pasin (Barker, Liberal Party, Shadow Assistant Minister for Infrastructure and Transport) | Hansard source

If only I had the benefit of the last portion of the member for Makin's contribution. I've got to say I agree with much of it. That's the reason why I congratulate the member for Wide Bay for bringing this matter to the attention of parliament and, in particular, the Federation Chamber. What we're seeing here is, effectively, the cancellation of the oversight mechanism of the ACCC's as it relates to domestic airlines. Whilst that has only been in place for three years, it was an important measure implemented by the then government on the back of significant financial support provided by the public via its federal government to ensure airlines survived the shockwave that came with the global pandemic. But, in the midst of a cost-of-living crisis, to end that oversight at a time where we see domestic airfare prices 32 per cent higher in nominal terms in May 2023 compared to May 2019, or 13 per cent higher in real terms, I think is a retrograde step that will only exacerbate the kinds of things that the member for Makin was referring to.

It's because of this oversight and the quarterly reporting being undertaken—or that had been undertaken until the decision to cancel support for the program—by the ACCC that I can stand here and say to the Federation Chamber that domestic airfare prices are 13 per cent higher in real terms in May 2023 compared to May 2019, that 1,700 flights were cancelled in April of 2023, that 1,200 flights arrived more than 15 minutes late in that same month or, equally, that the cost of jet fuel is almost half what it was in June 2022. These are important metrics which effectively hold a domestic airline carrier's feet to the fire so that there can be discussion and debate around why it is that we're seeing this price activity.

Whilst the member for Makin referred to Qantas, I'm also particularly interested in other aviation providers around the nation. For some people who live in metropolitan settings, a flight is nice to have. There are lots of people who live in regional and remote Australia for whom flights are a must-have. I invite the member for Makin—indeed, any member of this place—to visit the fabulous south-east of South Australia. One of the ways they can get there is to fly Rex from Adelaide to Mount Gambier. I'm sure the member for Making has done that on occasion, and other members have perhaps travelled from Adelaide to Port Lincoln. The price of those flights really does make your jaw drop.

The people I worry about the most are people who need to book those flights in a quasi-emergency, where a loved one or a friend has been airlifted by the RFDS to Adelaide and you want to be there, so you've booked that flight at the last minute, or where you've finally got a call from a specialist to say: 'If you can get to Adelaide tomorrow morning then I can see you.' Then what my constituents do is to jump online and see the flights; invariably, they're the most expensive flights available, but they take them anyway, because, for many of them, driving to Adelaide and back is just not an option.

I want this mechanism to continue because I want to hold carriers' feet to the fire. I'm not against the idea that they make reasonable profits; I think that's perfectly acceptable. But I want to ensure that, as has been described by others, there's the kind of information you need to make sure you can highlight what ought to be happening with prices in those circumstances.

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