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

I move:

That the amendment be agreed to.

The Aviation Legislation Amendment (2008 Measures No. 2) Bill 2008 makes amendments to aviation security and safety legislation. The safety measures include amendments to the Civil Aviation Act 1998 to allow copying and disclosure of cockpit voice recordings, or CVRs, for the purpose of testing whether the CVR is functioning and reliable. CVRs retain the last two hours of audio in the cockpit during a flight. Information is recorded for use in accident investigations and needs to be fully functioning and reliable for this critical safety purpose.

Non-government amendments were successfully moved in the Senate with respect to the cockpit voice recorder provisions. While the bill already contains stringent measures to protect the privacy of an aircraft’s crew, the government supported an amendment to the bill to provide for a review of the CVR provisions by the Privacy Commissioner after they have been in operation for 12 months. The government supported the amendment because it is consistent with the nature of the existing protections to have an independent body review their implementation. This amendment was moved after discussions between Senator Xenophon and me. I thank him for the constructive way in which he entered into dialogue with the government.

The amended bill is in the interests of preserving best practice with respect to the maintenance of privacy. The other safety measures in the bill are amendments to the Transport Safety Investigation Act 2003 to improve the workability of the Australian Transport Safety Bureau’s accident and incident reporting scheme. It is essential that safety data is reported on accidents and incidents for the improvement of future transport safety. These security measures are amendments to the Aviation Transport Security Act 2004 to expand the information collection and delegation of powers of the secretary of my department. These amendments will improve the robustness and flexibility of the aviation security framework to ensure a timely response to threats of unlawful interference with aircraft. I am confident that the amendments contained in this bill will further enhance Australia’s aviation security and safety regime. There is no greater priority when it comes to aviation than the issue of safety. Consistent with that, I commend the bill, as amended, to the House.

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