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

by leave—As the House would be aware the Civil Aviation Safety Authority (CASA) announced the suspension of Tiger Airlines domestic operations in Australia effective from Saturday, 2 July 2011. CASA has not taken this action lightly but formed the view that there was a serious and imminent risk to passengers if the airline’s operations continued. CASA releas­ed a statement on 2 July 2011 outlining the circumstances leading up to this decision following the initial issuing of a show cause notice in March 2011.

Taking Tiger’s response to the show cause notice into account, CASA subsequently imposed a number of conditions on the airline's Air Operator’s Certificate (AOC). Since Tiger was served the show cause notice, CASA has determined further events raise concerns about the airline’s ability to conduct operations safely. This includes several incidents being further investigated by the Australian Transport Safety Bureau (ATSB) and CASA. The suspension of the airline’s AOC lasts for a period of five business days, during which time CASA must apply to the Federal Court for an extension of the suspension if required. If the Federal Court supports a CASA application, the court can continue the suspension for a period of time which will allow CASA to finalise its investigations into its concerns.

It is regrettable that this decision has impacted on the travel plans of many passengers, including those travelling during school holidays. However, the safety of the travelling public must come first. Recognising the disruption to the travel plans of thousands of holiday makers, the government asked the other Australian airlines to step up to assist those affected and to make every effort to help get people home, to continue their travel or to go on their school holidays. I am very pleased to advise the House that there has been an overwhelmingly positive response to the government’s request from the industry. Qantas, Jetstar and Virgin Australia are all assisting passengers affected by the suspension of Tiger services, through the use of extra capacity and the provision of special fares. I spoke personally to both Alan Joyce and John Borghetti on Saturday and I want to thank them, as the respective CEOs of their organisations, for the assistance that they have given to their fellow Australians in the past days. Following a request from the government, I also welcome the Australian Licenced Aircraft Engineers Association decision not to proceed with industrial action this week while Tiger’s operations are suspended.

Given the importance of a bipartisan approach to aviation safety, I rang the shadow minister, the Hon Warren Truss, on Saturday to update him on the CASA decision and have had CASA brief him in person this morning.

In our first term, the government undertook the most exhaustive review of aviation policy settings in Australia’s history. This review, which involved an extensive consultation process with industry, other government agencies and the com­munity, culminated in the release of Australia’s first ever aviation white paper, Flight path to the future, in December 2009. In the aviation white paper the government made it clear that aviation safety would always be our first and overriding priority. We supported this approach with the announcement in the May 2010 budget of an additional $89.9 million in funding for CASA over four years. This additional funding is being used to fund almost 100 new and ongoing staff in key surveillance roles and to invest in the development and maintenance of safety standards and regulatory development. The additional funding is also providing for expanded and ongoing training for CASA staff and will ensure that there are sufficient resources to properly regulate and administer Australia’s airspace, which covers an area of almost 11 per cent of the earth’s surface. This funding represented an unprecedented 30 per cent increase in CASA funding and provided for long-term stability in the authority’s funding base. We also improved governance arrange­ments for CASA with the establishment of an independent board to provide strategic oversight for CASA. The CASA board has recently confirmed that, with the additional funding provided by the government, CASA is now adequately funded to meet the challenges and performance expected of a world-class aviation safety regulator. We also strengthened the independence of the Australian Transport Safety Bureau (ATSB) including the creation of independent commissioners.

Regulatory reform has been a challenging issue for Australian aviation safety for over a decade. In March 2010 the government established a dedicated regulatory drafting task force involving specialists from CASA and the Office of Legislative Drafting and Publishing. The task force is targeting the completion of the long outstanding mainten­ance, operations and flight crew licensing regulations. The task force has already made substantial progress in completing the maintenance regulations and is currently drafting several of the flight crew regulations specifically referred to in the recent Senate inquiry into pilot training. The government will give careful consideration to the inquiry's recommendations noting that the government has already acted on the safety funding issues outlined in the committee's report. We will do so after consulting with our independent aviation safety advisers. The government has consistently highlighted the importance of investment in safety critical equipment and services by Airservices Australia, Australia's major civil air traffic service provider, in its Statement of Expectations to the Airservices board. In response, Airservices has already comm­enced an almost $1 billion capital expenditure program over the next five years. This investment includes the wider adoption of advanced satellite and ground based surveillance technology, new and upgraded air traffic control towers as well as new rescue and firefighting stations and equipment.

Consistent with the government's Austral­ian Airspace Policy Statement issued in 2010, one of our key policy objectives is to enhance regional air traffic services. Airservices' investment has accordingly included new and enhanced air traffic facilities in growing regional centres like Broome, Karratha and Rockhampton.

Maintaining Australia's internationally regarded high aviation safety standards and performance is about constant vigilance, continuous improvement and investment in safety regulatory oversight, safety infra­structure and safety personnel. Recent events only serve to demonstrate and reaffirm this government's, and our independent safety agencies', joint commitment to providing a safe aviation industry. Australia's aviation safety system is based on sound governance and a resource and regulatory framework which will continue to ensure that safety will always be the first priority.

I ask leave of the House to move a motion to enable the member for Wide Bay to speak for eight minutes.

Leave granted.

I move:

That so much of the standing and sessional orders be suspended as would prevent Mr Truss speaking in reply to the ministerial statement for a period not exceeding eight minutes.

Question agreed to.

Warren Truss (Wide Bay, National Party, Leader of the Nationals) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I thank the minister for reporting to the parliament on this significant event over the weekend, with the grounding of one of Australia's major airlines. When Tiger began, I think it would be fair to say that Australians welcomed what was going to be regarded as a new era of competition. Certainly low-cost travel was taken to another step. The airline has grown solidly. It now has 10 aircraft operating in Australia and a significant network, particularly into some of the tourist destinations around Australia. It is a substantial company in that it has the backing of important Singaporean investors and Singapore Airlines, one of the world's leading airlines, has almost a one-third interest in the company. It is a substantial operation and, therefore, to have its services in Australia grounded in this way is a significant blow to the Australian company, to the Australian tourism industry, to those who depend on Tiger to travel but also to the reputation of the Tiger brand around the world. So it was a significant decision to be made, and I am certain that CASA would never make a decision of this nature lightly. The implications are inevit­able: public confidence is lost in the airline and a lot of work has to be done then to rebuild that confidence if the airline chooses to continue its operation. We all hope that a way can be found through the current difficulties so that it can return to providing services across the nation and do so with a high degree of confidence that it can operate safely and securely.

We have a proud reputation in Australia for the safety of our skies and, in particular, the safety of our major airlines. That is a reputation that we have invested in over decades, and we must make sure that it is retained for the future. We are so dependent in this country on aviation because of the size of the continent and the need for us to travel around regularly—in particular, the advent of fly-in fly-out mining operations et cetera has crowded our skies. So it is important that we have a high degree of confidence that our safety regulatory systems and, indeed, our airlines operate within a culture of safety. To achieve that we have to have well-trained crews and well-trained engineers. We have to have sound regul­ations. Also, we must support the emergency services and other regulatory agencies. But what is most important and what is difficult to regulate from a government's perspective is a culture of safety within each of the operating companies. They have got to think 'safety'. They have got to be aware that this is a priority. It is an important commercial priority, as Tiger is discovering now when its safety has been questioned. You cannot have a strong, viable and secure airline and business unless the public are satisfied that your operations are safe.

People like cheap fares and they want to get to their destinations reliably and on time but what they want most of all is to be as certain as anyone can possibly be about anything in this life that when they board the aircraft it has been properly maintained, it has been properly looked after, the crew are competent and the airline is determined to get them safely to the destination. So it is important that we seek to act wherever necessary to maintain the safety of airlines and assure the flying public of Australia that they are safe.

In this particular instance, as the minister has outlined, issues that had occurred in Tiger airlines had been brought to CASA's attention over quite a period of time, and in September a series of obligations were attached to their air operator's certificate which required the airline to improve its performance. A series of steps were identif­ied, with time frames over quite a long period, for the airline to progressively improve its safety performance. As I underst­and it, the airline had been making progress in that task, although none of the actual target dates had yet expired. It was a series of extra events, beyond those which actually had triggered the original requirements, that led to the suspension over the weekend.

CASA are responsible for overseeing aviation safety in Australia. I know, even from my own time as a minister but also by observing over the years, that they take that responsibility very seriously and they do not act precipitously. In fact, this is the first time that something like this has happened to an Australian airline. I know people refer to the Ansett incident, which affected a significant proportion of the Ansett fleet but not all of it. In this instance CASA are concerned about the culture of safety within the organisation, and that is a fundamental issue which, as I mentioned earlier, must be addressed. But it cannot be addressed quickly and easily. You cannot change a culture overnight. That is why the minister is, I think, right to the refer to the fact that it is a big task to try to do this within five days. I hope they can, and it is encouraging to see that senior airline management and senior owners of Tiger have come to Australia from Singapore. They are clearly taking it all seriously. I hope that they can get in the air as quickly as possible. I note that Tiger are still selling tickets for next week. That is a demon­stration that they have got some degree of confidence that they can fulfil the requirements and assure our regulator that they have developed within their organisation the systems that are necessary to guarantee safe operation.

This has been a major step. It is a significant blow to air travel within Australia. I join the minister in complim­enting the other Australian airlines for their willingness to carry Tiger passengers. It is not quite the Ansett situation, where they would have been genuinely worried that they would not get paid for the passengers that flew; in this case, Tiger has the backing of very substantial interests and there is good reason to believe that they have the financial capability to do whatever they need to operate again. The key thing is to develop the culture. That is not a money thing; that is about having proper processes in place with their management to ensure that safety is always given priority.

I thank the minister again for his statement. I commend the whole Australian aviation industry for the way in which they are responding to this, including Tiger's willingness to address the issues in a constructive way so that hopefully their business can resume operation as quickly as possible, but most importantly of all so that Australia's valued reputation for having safe skies is preserved and enhanced.