Jim Turnour (Leichhardt, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

My question is to the Minister for Infrastructure, Transport, Regional Development and Local Government. Would the minister update the House on the response of the Australian transport safety agencies to the aircraft crash in Papua New Guinea?

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

I thank the member for Leichhardt for his question. The Australian government is providing all possible support to the PNG authorities in responding to the accident, and our transport safety agencies are playing an important role. The Australian Maritime Safety Authority’s coordination centre has worked with the coordination centre in Port Moresby to provide assistance with search planning. AMSA yesterday deployed a Dornier specialist search and rescue aircraft from Cairns to Port Moresby. This aircraft, of course, undertook some of the searches that were undertaken late yesterday and this morning. It will continue to be involved in operations in PNG today.

The Australian Transport Safety Bureau will be deploying four specialist investigators this afternoon at 3 pm on a Defence aircraft from Richmond. The ATSB investigators will include two aircraft engineers, a materials failure specialist and an operations pilot specialist. Under international arrangements, they will act as accredited representatives to the investigation and will provide assistance to the local investigation personal both at the accident site and in relation to the collection and analysis of other relevant evidence. As this situation develops, of course, Australia’s transport safety agencies stand ready to offer any further assistance whatsoever as requested by the Papua New Guinea government.