Kelvin Thomson (Wills, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

My question is to the Minister for Infrastructure, Transport, Regional Development and Local Government. Will the minister advise the House of recent achievements in developing an open skies agreement between Australia and the European Union?

Anthony Albanese (Grayndler, Australian Labor Party, Leader of the House) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I thank the member for Wills for his question. Last Friday the aviation relationship between Australia and the European Union, Australia’s largest aviation market, took a significant step forward. European transport ministers approved a mandate for the European Commission to negotiate an EU-wide comprehensive air services agreement with Australia.

I welcome this decision as an important step towards a historic open skies agreement which could deliver greater competition, more flights and lower airfares between Australia and EU countries. It is a step that could never have been secured by the previous government. The decision of the Rudd Labor government to ratify the Kyoto protocol was clearly instrumental in achieving a shift in European opinion and a shift in the European agreement to this mandate. An EU-wide comprehensive air services agreement could remove many if not all of the existing limitations for Australian and European airlines operating between Australia and the EU.

The Rudd government has actively pursued an open skies agreement and it was discussed when the Prime Minister met with the President of the European Commission, Jose Manuel Barroso, in Brussels in April of this year. More recently, I hosted a lunch in Parliament House on 5 May where the potential open skies agreement with the EU was discussed with Mr Bruno Julien, the Ambassador and Head of Delegation of the European Commission to Australia and New Zealand, and Mr Francois Descoueyte, the French Ambassador to Australia. Of course, France takes over the presidency of the EU from 1 July.

In order to progress the important open skies agreement with the EU, I will be travelling in July to meet with the EU and with the French and German transport ministers. Recent progress with Europe builds on the Rudd government’s success in concluding an open skies agreement with the United States. It has been only three months since the Prime Minister signed the Australia-US open skies agreement and the benefits of competition are already being felt. This has the potential to lead to cheaper airfares and a greater variety of cities served. This is a win for consumers, a win for the tourism industry and a win for the Australian aviation industry. Achieving an international air services policy which serves our national interest is a key issue being considered in the development of the government’s aviation white paper, which will be finalised by mid-2009.