Susan McDonald (Queensland, National Party) Share this | Hansard source

I rise to speak on the Rural and Regional Affairs and Transport Legislation Committee's report on the Performance of the Australian Transport Safety Bureau, and in particular its report on the June 2017 crash of a flight conducted on behalf of Angel Flight Australia. Today it is 40 degrees in much of Western Queensland. This is not because of climate change; it's because it's October and it's summer. It is 24 hours by bus from Cloncurry to Brisbane; it is 12 hours to Townsville. Thanks very much to the Labor government in Queensland there are reduced medical services through much of regional and remote Queensland, so people have to travel to the big cities. It is currently $683 to fly to Brisbane and $881 to fly to Townsville.

I have long believed that regulation of any industry should be outcomes based. It should be effective and it should be reasonable. There should be transparency of the clear connection between the problem to be solved and the legislative solution. The Rural and Regional Affairs and Transport Legislation Committee that I chair has had the opportunity to hold an inquiry into the performance of the Australian Transport Safety Bureau and, in particular, its report on the June 2017 crash of a flight conducted on behalf of Angel Flight Australia. It was the findings of this report that formed part of the rationale for the introduction by CASA of the Civil Aviation (Community Service Flights—Conditions on Flight Crew Licences) Instrument 2019, the CSF instrument.

The CSF instrument introduces a number of requirements for community services flights in relation to pilot experience and date of last flight, the number and type of passengers allowed on board, allowable aircraft types, aircraft maintenance schedules, flight notifications and various flight rules. At the hearings, we heard extensive evidence from numerous industry representatives, stakeholders and observers, and we used the feedback from these people to make two very clear recommendations. These were: to amend the instrument to remove the provisions for additional aeroplane maintenance requirements beyond those required already for airworthiness in the general aviation sector; and, second, to further amend the instrument to clarify what constitutes 'operating crew' for community service flights, particularly as it relates to additional pilots and mentoring.

The Rural and Regional Affairs and Transport Committee believe both these reforms would strike the right balance between safety, ease of implementation and the benefit of a service that does so much good for so many people, thanks to the generosity of volunteer pilots in our vast nation. Despite these recommendations, CASA, having indicated it will accept the second recommendation to provide further clarity on the mentorship, has made no changes to the words of the instrument in this regard. But, more importantly, CASA has not accepted the unanimous recommendations of the committee to reject the additional maintenance requirement, which, once again, adds cost to an increasingly unfinancial sector. The requirement for the additional maintenance was not able to be demonstrated by CASA either in its written submission or when appearing before the committee. Indeed, the idea that this was only a small increase to costs fundamentally demonstrates the extraordinary disconnection between this regulating body and the reality of life and services available in regional, rural and remote Australia—the very places that rely on Angel Flight. In taking this course of action, CASA doesn't display a desire to act on collaboration and consultation and shows a refusal to accept commonsense reform.

This lack of understanding of the gradual and relentless increase in cost and regulation within the aviation industry with no demonstrable link to safety improvement other than a precautionary principle concerns me enormously, as a resident of this huge outback country. We could be much better served if only aviation were affordable for general aviation and charter businesses.

CASA's proposed regulatory changes would not have prevented the June 2017 accident and, with no reference to additional maintenance requirements in the ATSB report, it is hard to understand to what end CASA had made the change, not to mention the fact that CASA's approach risks driving pilots out of the Angel Flight service, which is so critical to Australians living in rural and remote areas. Without pilots, people with chronic and serious conditions face driving many hours to obtain treatment, or face the extreme costs of regional airfares. It is painfully apparent that CASA imposes regulation simply for the sake of it.

Everyone elected to this place comes with a responsibility to represent the communities that sent them here. Those communities have an expectation that we will support the standards that they expect—the standards of transparency and common sense—and they expect government to direct these independent bodies to do their will. Of course, that is not possible. These independent statutory bodies have taken on a life of their own, but I am here to tell you that I could not and will not accept a report that so clearly and in depth examines the evidence and the challenges for regional and remote Australia and the challenges to the aviation industry and stands by while CASA, once again, imposes maintenance requirements that are unreasonable, costly and, once again, seek to strangle opportunity and aviation in this country.

You can only begin to imagine what Bert Hinkler, Charles Kingsford Smith, John Flynn and all the other great aviators of this land would think if they came back now and saw what we have done to our aviation industry. There are not only aspects of practical and reasonableness in opposing this instrument but also humanitarian aspects. Regulations need to be strict, but not so strict as to strangle, and I believe Angel Flight will be strangled by these proposals. So it is for this reason that I did support the disallowance motion moved by Senator Rex Patrick. This is not voting against government legislation; this is voting against an instrument that was created by an independent statutory authority that is slowly crippling our aviation industry.