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

Frankly, it is extraordinary that this is an issue of partisanship in this House. This should not be an issue of partisanship. There should be a consensus position. We have spent two years developing this position. In December 2008 the government released an aviation green paper and on page 56 of that paper it put forward a process of industry stakeholder comment outlining a process of where we needed to go to put CASA on a sustainable financial footing. We then had a process of one year of discussions with the aviation sector. In December 2009 we produced an aviation white paper which on page 103 outlined the importance of putting CASA on a sustainable financial footing. This legislation does just that.

It is important to note that the previous government raised the fuel excise some 11 times. In 2004-05 fuel excise was $65 million and $49 million was appropriated for CASA. In the following year $65.9 million was received from aviation fuel excise and the appropriation amount was some $40 million, a cut of $9 million to aviation safety inspectors, to CASA, the agency. Who was the minister at the time? It was the current shadow minister for aviation, the Leader of the National Party.

We know that those opposite are intent on opposing for opposition’s sake. But this is not a matter of high principle; this is pure obstructionism. I say to the Leader of the Opposition: get control of the Leader of the National Party. This is the man who wants to be the Deputy Prime Minister of Australia, the Leader of the National Party who is opposing legislation to increase the number of aviation safety inspectors at a time when we have a considerable increase in the aviation sector. They represent a huge risk. We know they represent a risk to the economy. We know they represent a risk to national security. But they also represent a risk to aviation security and safety.

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