David Jull (Fadden, Liberal Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

My question is directed to the Deputy Prime Minister in his capacity as Minister for Transport and Regional Services. In terms of climate change, what initiatives are the government taking in relation to the aviation industry?

Mark Vaile (Lyne, National Party, Deputy Prime Minister) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I thank the member for Fadden for his question. Obviously, he is very interested in the issues surrounding climate change and emissions of greenhouse gases. Of course, all transport industries are, at some stage, going to be asked to make a contribution through changes to the structure of their fuel. We are seeing, for example, in road transport, the roll out of biofuels like ethanol and biodiesel which are helping to reduce greenhouse gas emissions in the overall economy. Obviously, when you think about the growth of aviation travel both here and globally, the aviation industry is going to have a contribution to make.

Along with the technologies that we are investing in, like those in the Low Emissions Technology Demonstration Fund, the $400 million we are investing in solar energy in Australia, and the investment in clean coal technology, we can do practical things with the aviation sector as far as reducing the level of their emissions. It is interesting to note that there is already a process in train as far as international aviation is concerned, called flexi-tracks, where international carriers can identify different routes to travel to take advantage of weather conditions and wind velocity, which can actually save time and save emissions. In a recent example, a flight from Melbourne to Dubai saved 10 minutes travel time and burned 2.7 tonnes less fuel because they identified a better path to travel given the weather conditions. That actually saved 8.2 tonnes of carbon dioxide emissions.

One need only think about circumstances in Australia. How often when you have travelled have you arrived at the port of destination and your plane has had to be put into a holding pattern? Planes that are put in a holding pattern burn four to five times as much fuel whilst waiting to land than a plane en route or, obviously, a plane sitting on the ground. We need to better manage the aviation sector so that, if there are going to be delays at the destination end, the plane should be delayed at the port of departure.

There are some very practical real-life solutions that we can implement through processes of management in different industries that will assist our nation meet its greenhouse gas emissions targets. Just as there is no need to close down the coal industry to save the emissions that we need to save in that sector—by introducing and investing in clean coal technology—there is no need to close down the aviation sector or the road transport sector. We just need to deploy better management practices that are focused on limiting and restricting those emissions, which will help make a contribution towards the overall national target.