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

I thank the member for Banks for his question and his ongoing diligence in raising aviation issues, which he and the member for Blaxland continually do. The fact is that the government have embarked on a process of having a comprehensive strategy for aviation policy for the long term. We have said that safety and security must be our No. 1 priority. Last year the House would recall that regulations restricting access to cockpits on aircraft were disallowed in the Senate, in my view much to the shame of the Senate. Those regulations have been resubmitted and I understand that there is a disallowance motion again which will be debated in the Senate, and I ask all responsible members of the Senate to think very carefully before they again return cockpits to an unregulated situation.

There is also very important legislation being debated before this House today. It goes to the heart of safety in aviation. The aviation sector is changing dramatically. General aviation is growing. Private ownership of aircraft is growing. The use of helicopters is growing. And with this growth the aviation safety regime must move with the times.

We have introduced legislation to increase the excise on aviation fuel from 2.854c to3.556c per litre. That will result in an estimated $89.9 million of increased revenue over the next four years, and every single cent of that money will be going to the Civil Aviation Safety Authority. It will be going to fund important safety surveillance, safety analysis and safety inspections. They will be able to employ 97 additional safety inspectors.

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