Phillip Thompson (Herbert, Liberal National Party, Shadow Assistant Minister for Defence) Share this | Hansard source

Every Australian should have fair access to air travel, yet so many Australians with disabilities face severe barriers to travel, often left with no options. Julie Brice is a structural engineer, in Townsville, with a spinal cord injury. She relies on a specialised 195-kilogram wheelchair to get by. She has faced significant barriers when trying to fly, due to airline restrictions. Julie has been told not to fly and to 'just drive'. In a worse case, she pays someone to drive her wheelchair to the destination. Julie suffers from severe medical issues while flying without her wheelchair. Those risks include blood pressure drops and fainting. Air travel without her wheelchair is impossible. At the outset, airlines rejected Julie's requests to travel, due to the weight limits. This forced her to either travel without her wheelchair or, like I said, someone drive the 28 hours to Adelaide.

The Labor government's Aviation white paper: towards 2050 fails to require airlines to accommodate people with disabilities. The current legislation has a loophole which allows airlines to opt out of assisting passengers with needs like Julie's. It's not good enough to turn a blind eye to people with disabilities. Everyone has the right to travel. So, together, Julie and I wrote to the transport minister. We requested an urgent government review into the legislation loophole which allows airlines to ignore people with disabilities. This was not met with an answer. Julie and I had to go the media, raise the alarm and start the fight.

As a result of Julie's dedication and advocacy, Qantas agreed to change its booking system to accommodate people with a disability. Now, when people book, they can click a special link that takes them to a page that will allow the airline to show the availability of an aircraft that can take a wheelchair. I've also pledged to work with Julie. Julie is an engineer and can help with refits for specialised wheelchairs. We've also met with Virgin Australia, They will work with Julie on her recommendations and action her requests.

This victory is for all Australians with a disability. It was driven by Julie Brice and our regional Queensland community. We have secured fairer travel for people with disability—but more needs to be done. A disability shouldn't mean you can't travel. A disability shouldn't mean you should be restricted. We will continue the fight so that all people can fly.

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