Anne Urquhart (Braddon, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Hansard source

My electorate of Braddon is entirely regional, rural, remote and very remote. It is rich in resources, boasts agricultural produce that is in great demand because of its quality and freshness and has a spectacular natural environment unlike anywhere else in the world. Braddon is also an engine room for Tasmania. It delivers good, well-paid jobs and is a critical contributor to our state's economy.

The economic, social and community wellbeing of communities and producers in my electorate is intrinsically linked to reliable, affordable and fit-for-purpose aviation transport and freight services. Air services are a critical lifeline for the beautiful and very remote King Island in my electorate, enabling access to health care, education, employment, business opportunities and social connections. We know aviation services outside major metropolitan centres face structural economic challenges, leading to higher costs, reduced competition and concerns about service reliability and equity. Uncertainty about the operation of Rex flights to and from King Island was more than an inconvenience for the island's 2,300 residents and the many visitors and FIFO workers who travel there. For King Island, air services are about the essentials of life and are a mainstay for the local economy.

Federal Labor want regional airports to flourish because we know how important these services are to those local communities. We want regional aviation to remain strong, and that's why the Albanese Labor government has backed it right the way through Rex's administration until the sale of the airline to Air T. In agreement with us, the new owners have undertaken to keep operating Rex's regional routes and will over time bring more planes into service, have more flights on these routes and grow the business here in Australia—but it's important that they settle first.

The importance of the Albanese Labor government's support of Rex Airlines cannot be understated. We delivered a commercial loan of $60 million and the restructuring of $108 million in existing debt to keep regional air routes running during the voluntary administration process. We are also grateful that the many councils who operate airports across our regions worked and stepped up to keep Rex flying. That's why we have established the $5 million Regional and Remote Airport Support Program for local government and regional and remote airports that were impacted by Rex Airlines' voluntary administration. We're happy that local governments have an opportunity to recoup some of the costs they incurred during the administration period. Many of these councils are small. They have lots of other expenses, and it's good that they're getting some of their money back. These measures are in addition to the additional $50 million over three years in the 2024-25 budget to extend the Remote Airstrip Upgrade Program. There is also an extension of the Regional Airports Program, with an additional $40 million for competitive grant funding that was also announced in the 2024-25 budget.

After the chaos we've seen from the Liberals and Nationals, regional Australia needs a government that it can rely on and that represents it more than ever. In my community I travel regularly right across the electorate—particularly to King Island, where I and many others who travel there for business, for pleasure and for tourism rely on air services. We have a large tourism industry there. Also, it's important that people have access to good air travel for health needs.

I live on an island; I live in Tasmania. Without air services it's hard to quickly adapt to getting on and off islands. As the member for Leichhardt, the mover of this motion, outlined earlier, we have many islands that we represent as members of the government, and it's important that we look after the councils who manage the airports in those communities so they can rely on us to deliver—and it is Labor that is delivering for our regions. Labor members are out there every single day visiting these communities, making sure we're listening to the concerns they have. We've got over 24 of us sitting in the Labor caucus representing regions right across the country, and we're delivering for those regions, as we showed during the Rex administration. We will continue that into the future.

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