Ed Husic (Chifley, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

by leave––I'll speak on this motion. A number of us on this side of the chamber have been deeply concerned about the fact that while some decisions had to be made through this pandemic, particularly in relation to international borders, the big concern that we had was the follow through in being able to determine how you look after people whose livelihoods would be affected when you make the decision to shut the borders. In this case, and what the member for Ballarat will move in her motion, is the impact on aviation workers. This has been huge. Some of it is understandable, but what is unforgivable is the fact that when the calls have been made to look after people whose jobs have been affected in the area, it has been neglected. I know from constituents in my area who work for air services group dnata, for instance, who desperately wanted to be included in JobKeeper and had anticipated they would be. Finally, at the last minute, the Treasurer, who lectures us today about what we should support based on what's good for us in our electorates, when we approached him to support dnata workers, the Treasurer refused to do the right thing. It has been the same where people have been waiting for things to happen in Qantas or other parts of the aviation sector. I notice the member for Kingsford Smith is here. He is deeply concerned about the effect on the jobs of his constituents. We've been hearing nothing but silence. It is completely unacceptable, and I want to flag my strongest support for the member for Ballarat's motion. We have to have this on the floor of parliament to be debated. There are too many people depending on this to be fixed up that are being ignored by this government.

Ms Catherine King (Ballarat, Australian Labor Party, Shadow Minister for Infrastructure, Transport and Regional Development) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I move:

That this House:

(1) recognises:

(a) the critical role that Australia's aviation sector plays in the lives of all Australians;

(b) that 45,000 Australians work directly for airlines in Australia and hundreds of thousands more in related industries including aviation and tourism; and

(c) that the response to the COVID-19 pandemic has taken a huge toll on the aviation industry in Australia and around the world;

(2) notes the:

(a) Government's ad-hoc and piecemeal approach to Australia's aviation sector during the COVID-19 response, putting thousands of jobs at risk;

(b) Government's failure to take an equity stake in Virgin resulting in the company collapsing into voluntary administration, putting at risk the livelihoods of almost 16,000 workers; and

(c) inequitable treatment of the 5,500 workers of aviation support company dnata, who were told on 1 May 2020 that they would not be eligible for Jobkeeper payments; and

(3) calls on the Government to outline a comprehensive plan for aviation to ensure the best outcome for both the travelling public and the thousands of workers whose jobs depend on a vibrant aviation industry.

When I first gave notice of this several months ago, the aviation sector was in absolute crisis. Dnata workers, 5,500 of them, were being denied access to JobKeeper payments and basically were on no money at all. We had Virgin just going into administration despite desperate pleas to the government to resolve the issue prior to going into administration. We had Qantas starting to say that they were under enormous pressure and they needed to look at shedding jobs and outsourcing some of their workforce. We had regional airports across the country, many of them owned by local councils, saying they were ineligible for JobKeeper payments and were in trouble and worried about being able to keep on really qualified security staff, in particular. We had regional aviation saying it was in trouble. We had corporate air saying they were in trouble financially. We know this is a sector where there are 45,000 people employed directly, but overall the entire sector is 200,000 people. It is a massive jobs generator. This sector was the hardest hit, the hardest hit first, alongside tourism, because of the nature of COVID-19 and the shutdown.

The government's response has been entirely piecemeal throughout this process. It decided that it didn't want to pick winners. It decided that in essence it was going to fix and patch holes where it saw them. But it decided, in essence, that it was going to pick winners; that it was going to say, 'We'll rescue some parts of the sector but we'll leave others to work it out themselves.' That's what we've seen with the government's approach. The end result of that is what we are seeing today.

It is absolutely critical to Australia's economy and in the long-term interest of jobs in this sector that we have an aviation industry that is made up of two full-service airlines underpinned by budget carriers, underpinned by regional airlines, with a mix of those to ensure that regional Australians continue to have access to capital cities and other regions and other markets; underpinned, obviously, by a strong freight sector, both domestically and international as it relates to aviation; and all the other ancillary workers and workforce that supports aviation, whether it be in the corporate air space or other services at airports. That is the structure of the industry that is vitally important, but that is also the structure that this government has decided it is going to completely abandon, including the thousands of workers who rely on this industry for their employment.

We saw just recently the government taking the decision that they were not going to intervene in Virgin going into administration. They said, 'We're going to let the market go. There will be a market solution.' 'We're very happy that there was a market solution,' they said. Well, be careful what you wish for, because what we are now seeing is that it is very clear that the market solution is about to deliver a significant change to the aviation industry and a significant change to that structure that underpins the aviation industry but also underpins the jobs of thousands of workers. We've already seen Qantas shedding workers. We've seen Qantas taking a decision to outsource many of those workers and potentially seeing a downgrade in pay and conditions for that workforce. We've seen the conditions at Swissport. We do not want to see a replication of that for the many hundreds of Qantas workers who have worked for the sector for so long.

Virgin, if reports are true in the media, is about to become a budget carrier, not a full-service airline, and that will again see the shedding of hundreds of jobs across the sector. It will also lessen competition. It is long past time that this government understood that the market is not working at the moment. It is not working anywhere in the world and it's not working in any industries, but it is particularly not working in aviation. They need to have a very clear vision about where they want aviation to be when we emerge from this crisis and they need to do the work now to make sure that there are good jobs available in this sector, but so far, what we've seen from this government is that they've picked winners—in particular, giving large grants to certain airlines and not supporting others—and have literally abandoned the thousands of workers who work in aviation across this country.

Ross Vasta (Bonner, Liberal Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Is the motion seconded?

Matt Thistlethwaite (Kingsford Smith, Australian Labor Party, Shadow Assistant Minister for Financial Services) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I second the motion and reserve my right to speak.

Bert Van Manen (Forde, Liberal Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I thank the member opposite for bringing this motion to the House, because it gives me the opportunity to speak about the range of measures the government have undertaken to ensure that we support the aviation sector through the coronavirus crisis. To date, the government have committed more than $1.3 billion in support for the aviation sector through this pandemic. I note that in the member's contribution opposite there weren't actually any solutions provided, just commentary. To date, over $934 million worth of invoices has been paid. We understand the importance of the aviation sector to a country the size of Australia, both for commercial and domestic travel but also for regional travel as well as freight movement and international travel. It's important that we do support it.

I've got a list here of measures that we've undertaken over the past six months or so to support the aviation industry. In March, the government announced $715 million in an airline assistance package to provide immediate and significant relief from fees in waivers for over 70 air operators. We've also provided the JobKeeper package. I note from public statements that Qantas received approximately $267 million in JobKeeper payments to, I believe, 30 June, and there were approximately $156 million in payments of JobKeeper to Virgin to the end of August. We've also provided that support to the smaller airlines. That support has been provided right across our economy. The member opposite mentioned dnata, as did the previous speaker. When the JobKeeper payments were set up, entities owned by foreign governments were excluded, as were councils. Those foreign entities can be supported by their owners.

On 28 March, the government also provided two regional aviation support packages to support 12 air operators fly more than 220 weekly return services. In April, the government announced the international freight assistance mechanism to support the recovery of critical supply chains. As at September, that mechanism had contributed to supporting over 5,900 flights, representing nearly 150,000 tonnes of exports worth $1.95 billion to the Australian economy. In April, the government also announced the minimum international network for Qantas and Virgin to bring Australians home. In April, the government announced the domestic aviation network to support both Virgin and Qantas to support more than 140 domestic return flights per week. These examples, and many others in addition to them, go to show the support that this government has provided to the aviation sector to keep it flying. I note with interest the comments from the CEO of Rex airlines. He expressed his gratitude to the government for its support in ensuring that Rex kept flying on regional routes. I notice that Alliance Airlines have also been quite successful during a difficult period and haven't had a loss over that time.

The measures this government has taken are in line with ensuring that the airline industry is kept afloat and flying. As all of us sitting in this place know, we need to fly to get to Canberra. That has been difficult over the past few months, but it is now starting to return to some level of normalcy. We will keep working with the industry, as we are with many other industries across this country, to ensure that we put the packages and supports in place to keep them viable, both through this coronavirus and into the future, so that we have a viable, profitable airline industry, a viable, profitable manufacturing industry and a viable, profitable agricultural sector. We are continuing to support all of these industries in our economy to get through the coronavirus and to create jobs and opportunities for the future.

Matt Thistlethwaite (Kingsford Smith, Australian Labor Party, Shadow Assistant Minister for Financial Services) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

A couple of weeks ago I met with a group of Qantas workers who live in the community I represent. These loyal, hardworking Qantas employees had recently been sacked, along with 2½ thousand of their co-workers, in what I believe was one of the greatest acts of corporate immorality in Australia by our national airline. It's corporate immorality for this reason: these loyal, hardworking employees who were sacked are facing the prospect of their jobs being replaced by a foreign corporation with lower wages and conditions. It's evident that Qantas are doing all they can, and using the pandemic, to get rid of some highly skilled and valuable workers. In my view, that is immoral.

Many of these workers have given over 20 to 30 years service, loyal service, to this airline. A few of them I met with said to me, 'I'm in my late 50s'—or early 60s—'and all I've ever done is work in the aviation sector. How am I going to get a job now, particularly during a pandemic when the aviation sector is shut down?' If you look at the government's budget last week, what support from the government was there for these loyal Qantas workers, and others throughout the country, particularly those in the latter stages of their working life, for them to get back into the workforce? There's nothing, absolutely nothing. That says everything about this government's lack of commitment to the aviation sector in Australia.

We've seen what they've done, not only to Qantas workers but to the dnata workers as well, as was mentioned by the member for Ballarat. Some 5½ thousand of them have basically been thrown on the scrap heap by this government. Loyal, hardworking people who have worked for this company and provided support services for our airlines, who live in Australia, who pay their taxes in Australia and who have their families in Australia have been completely abandoned by this government, which lacks a plan to support one of the most vital employment sectors in our economy—our aviation sector. Where is the respect from this government for those that work in this industry?

This is a government that says it's all about jobs. I had to laugh last week when the Treasurer was out there, on the day of the budget, spruiking the budget and saying: 'It's all about jobs tonight. This is going to be a jobs budget.' I'm sorry, but you're not all about jobs if you stand by and allow our nation's national carrier to sack 2½ thousand of its loyal employees and then bring in a foreign corporation so that they can undercut their wages and conditions by paying lower wages and fewer conditions. You're not for jobs at all! You're not for jobs if you leave the 5½ thousand loyal workers of dnata out in the cold by refusing to provide support for them through JobKeeper, simply because of the structure they work under.

The member who spoke before me, the member for Forde, is wrong when he says that foreign corporations are excluded from JobKeeper. There are examples of where the government have amended the rules to ensure that can occur. We've seen the risk they pose to the 16,000 Virgin workers by refusing to support the airline during its difficult period of administration. The message that sent to the rest of the aviation sector, the travel sector and the tourism sector was that the federal government were not interested in supporting one of the most vitally important industries in our community.

In the community that I represent, our largest employer is Sydney Airport. Anyone who goes to Sydney Airport at the moment knows it's a ghost town; it's on its knees. The shock wave of that has been felt in the community I represent. There are close to 30,000 direct jobs associated with the airport. It provides support for a lot of families in our community. Those families are struggling at the moment, particularly those left behind by this government, with no support or JobKeeper. They're asking this government, 'Where is the plan for aviation to make sure it gets back on its feet as quickly as possible?' At some stage, when we do start flying again, particularly internationally, we're going to need a hell of lot of workers to make sure this industry can ramp up quickly. But a lot of those workers have left the industry because they simply cannot survive, particularly those who work for a company like dnata. You can't be without income if you've got no government support, so they've left the industry. How are you going to get them back quickly to make sure we can get this important industry back up and running, and support jobs not only in my community, but throughout Australia? That's why this government needs to develop a plan for aviation. I thank the member for Ballarat for moving this important motion.

Rowan Ramsey (Grey, Liberal Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I'm a bit bemused by this motion actually, but I thank the member for Ballarat for putting it forward. In fact, I did wonder when it was written because it calls for the government to immediately intervene in the administration of Virgin. Well, we've seen that the government actually held its nerve, and we've seen a very suitable response to the situation that Virgin found itself in. We've got a new investor. They are refashioning the airline, and hopefully, when we can get international travel happening in Australia again, Virgin will return to their pre-COVID position.

But right across the board, I've actually been pretty happy with the response of the government, particularly as a member who represents regional areas. We saw an imminent crash of services in regional areas. The government stepped up to the plate and put $198 million in to ensure places like Coober Pedy, Kingscote, Port Lincoln and Ceduna all had at least two flights a week being provided by Rex. That was the deal with the company, that they actually did run those. Since that time, in some of those centres the frequency of services has been rising. We've seen Qantas services to Whyalla and Port Lincoln pick up.

South Australia is in a fairly fortunate position. We've had a good government there that has managed the virus very well, I would have to say. But right across the board, we've seen some good performances from the government. I had meant to mention, when I was speaking about the intervention with Virgin—I have a report here from 2013 when the then opposition leader, Bill Shorten, was asking the government to intervene and rescue Qantas from immediate failure, if I remember rightly, when they stood down 300 workers. At the time the member for Maribyrnong was calling for urgent government intervention to save this failing international icon. Of course, within two years they were making record profits, which is why governments shouldn't be lured into knee-jerk reactions.

Across the board we've put more than $1.3 billion into the aviation sector. The JobKeeper platform has been so important for providing some stability in aviation. It's absolutely tough out there. It's tough for travel agents, for people, for councils that own airports—of course it is. But we can't magically fill in all the gaps that have happened because of the COVID virus. There is not an inexhaustible supply of money at the federal level—I suppose we have got printing presses! But the answer of some would seem to be to keep pouring money we don't have into enterprises, even though we don't know what their long-term viability will be.

We've had the international freight assistance mechanism, which has been very important in my electorate. We export a lot of seafood out of Grey both in aquaculture and wild caught fisheries terms. Their ability to get to the market on time—it is not the kind of thing you can put on sea freight; trying to get crayfish into Hong Kong, for instance, is time critical.

When the passengers stop coming into Australia we run out of freight, because, as you would know, Mr Deputy Speaker Vasta, the freight travels in the cargo holds of passenger airlines. So the government has put money into providing aircraft and services so that these people can keep those businesses afloat, interacting with all their markets. That service has primarily been focused on Asia and South-East Asia. I have had calls from constituents and companies saying, 'We need that kind support into Europe as well.' I hear those calls but we don't see the same kinds of tonnages trying to get in that direction, so it becomes a little more problematic.

But by and large those industries are very, very happy with what the government has done; that's the kind of feedback I get across the board. The passengers flying out of Coober Pedy and Ceduna are very happy that the government has intervened and kept those services in the air. I understand Rex is on the verge of putting on more flights to Ceduna now, because that traffic flow has built up; it got them through the tight spot. After all, that is what so much of the government intervention around COVID has been—temporary, to get businesses and people through the tight spots.

David Smith (Bean, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I support the motion moved by my colleague the member for Ballarat, and I commend her for taking overdue leadership on this critical issue. I support every worker across this essential industry, particularly those laid off, on reduced hours or facing uncertainty about their future. I support the broader union movement—their members, delegates and organisers—who are fighting to secure a better future for their colleagues and our economy. I support those airline executives who actually endeavour to pay their staff properly, support regional tourism and provide a quality service to the people of Australia. And I support all those in related industries that have suffered the flow-on impacts of COVID-19 on the airline industry.

Australia's aviation sector exists in the lives of all Australians. The workers in this industry quite literally carry the nation. It is therefore imperative we have a vibrant and competitive airline industry and an airline for those in regional Australia. Our national capital has two competitive performing airlines, and we do not have another cut-price budget carrier as a replacement for a full-service airline. The airline industry is an essential plank in the make-up of our economy. In 2018 aviation had an estimated annual revenue of $46 billion, adding an estimated $18½ billion to the Australian economy. Significantly, over 45,000 Australians work directly for airlines in Australia, with more than 93,000 workers' livelihoods depending on the industry's five main subsectors.

Those in Canberra and in my electorate of Bean benefit greatly from the existence of competitive performing airlines operating in and out of the national capital. For the year ending December 2019 the ACT saw $2.5 billion contributed to the local economy through tourism. This is an economic boon that was flown in and out by our pilots, catered to by cabin crews and had belongings moved by baggage handlers. Furthermore, all this was done smoothly with the efforts of a plethora of other workers right across the industry. Further afield, the communities in our regions will rely upon more regional services with lower fares bringing in more tourists and visitors to these communities, which in turn creates vital jobs. Unfortunately, the impact of COVID coupled with the inaction of the Morrison government has seen service numbers and fares headed in the opposite direction, hitting our already struggling communities hard.

On 7 October, I was proud to stand alongside ACT and New South Wales colleagues in the rain with local members of the Transport Workers Union. Qantas has stood down these workers, many of whom had provided decades of loyal service. Dammingly, when the industry takes off once more, these workers face the very real threat of having their jobs outsourced to a third party or in some cases offshored. The unprecedented pandemic is being used as a shameful cover to change these dedicated workers' employment status. Labor, the unions and myself will stand with these men and women and fight for a reversal of this mean-spirited approach by Qantas management.

Above all, Australia needs leadership that will work with workers, pilots, baggage handlers, avionics technicians, air traffic controllers and the multitude of others who rely upon this industry, but unfortunately, when leadership was needed most, this government vanished. The Morrison government rejected eight letters from Virgin asking for assistance. They preferred the airline fall into administration rather than take action to protect routes and jobs. This cannot be characterised as anything less than a betrayal of these workers. Conversely, the government decided to support the majority foreign owned airline REX with $54 million in untied funding, allowing them to quickly move from fighting for survival to announcing entry into the east coast markets. This ad hoc approach only serves to exacerbate uncertainty and worry across the industry, and yet this is simply a hallmark of the Morrison government. We know that Virgin received mixed signals from those around the cabinet table regarding potential support for the airline. In truth, it's just been the picking of winners and losers. This government picked 16,000 workers to lose, and they still can't answer why. This government's chronic undervaluing of our commercial airlines hardly comes as a surprise. After all, who needs a commercial flight when you can simply bill the taxpayer for a private jet to the Melbourne Cup.

Right now, what we need is a comprehensive plan for aviation. We need certainty and the best possible outcome for both the travelling public and the thousands of workers whose jobs depend on a robust and vibrant aviation industry. I commend this motion.

Josh Wilson (Fremantle, Australian Labor Party, Shadow Assistant Minister for the Environment) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I'm very glad to support the member for Ballarat's motion which recognises the critical contribution made by Australia's aviation sector to our way of life as a nation of people who live on a distantly populated island continent and who in the past have relied on air travel to keep us connected with one another and connected to the rest of the world.

There's no doubt that aviation is facing some of the sharpest impacts of the present crisis, but whatever happens we cannot allow Australian aviation to be jeopardised. It's essential to our social and economic wellbeing. That means we must have a clear plan for the survival and revival of Australian aviation, a clear plan that protects air services and protects the workers who deliver those services. Unfortunately the plan to date has been far from clear and the government's response has been patchy at best. It's one of the paradoxes of the Liberal Party—very friendly with big business but just not good at managing big business issues. Our taxpayer money flows out, but it's often not clear what we're going to see for it. The job losses mount; somehow the executive bonuses continue. We see commitments made, but, as with the case of the new owners of Virgin Australia who did commit to maintaining the operation of a full-service airline, it's not clear that those commitments will be kept and the government's silent about whether they will hold multinational companies to their promises.

I want to acknowledge Labor's shadow minister, the member for Ballarat, and my WA colleague in the other place Senator Sterle for their leadership in this area. I know their constructive suggestions and their unstinting advocacy in holding the government to account on this issue are important, especially for the thousands of workers who sustain this vital part of our transport capacity. As others have said, the industry directly employs 45,000 Australians and serves to connect our families and communities, it underpins our two most significant service exports in tourism and international education and it provides air freight capacity for some critical exports like chilled sheep carcasses into the Middle East and seafood into the Asia-Pacific region, both of which are very important to my home state of Western Australia.

It was utterly predictable—by everyone—from the outset that COVID-19 would smash aviation. It's regrettable on that basis that the Morrison government appears to have reserved some of its shoddiest mismanagement for those parts of Australian life most affected by the pandemic—aged care, universities, the arts and creative sectors, and of course aviation. As a result, we've seen far too much uncertainty. It puts our carriers at risk and it puts our future way of life at risk because Australia simply must have a healthy and competitive aviation sector.

For all the people who work in aviation it has been a disruptive and extraordinarily bleak time. I know a little bit about what that means because, like most members in this place, I've heard directly from pilots, cabin crew, engineers, airport staff and people in the freight and logistics part of the business. They're all people who fear for their livelihoods. Many of them have suffered impacts already, and all of them suspect it's going to remain difficult for some time to come.

It's fortunate that in Western Australia the maintenance of the resources sector activity has meant a continuation of flights to support our fly-in fly-out workforce, which in turn is critical to Australia's overall economic performance. It's a shame more hasn't been done by the Morrison government to support the return of stranded and vulnerable Australians.

I want to acknowledge the formidable Transport Workers Union for all their tireless work in speaking up for the aviation sector and in fighting for aviation workers. I particularly note the TWU's resolve in defence of dnata workers—the men and women who provide crucial ground-handling, logistics and catering services. They are essential workers. They deserve much better than their collective experience to date.

I don't know that there's a worse example of mismanagement than the situation of dnata's 5,500 Australian employees who were told in May that they would be excluded from JobKeeper payments because dnata is controlled by its parent company that is overseas. With a little bit of common sense this could have been fixed. Despite the workers' pleas and despite the union's steady and sensible argument, the Morrison government remains deaf to all reason, which means that thousands of dnata workers are left in the lurch.

The aviation sector was at the front edge of the COVID-19 disaster and, all things considered, it will be among the last to fully recover. It needs to be in a position to resume its vital function as soon as possible to the maximum degree and to the highest standard of service. That will only be possible with careful support and stewardship from the government. So far we haven't seen that. So far we have seen the reverse. What we have seen with aviation and other key sectors—the arts, universities and local government, among others—is the government's hands-off, we-don't-hold-a-hose type of approach. What does that do? That risks long-term damage. It will harm Australian workers and impact all of us.

Ed Husic (Chifley, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I want to pick up on what the members for Fremantle and Kingsford Smith mentioned—the workers at dnata. I spoke earlier about the fact that there were people in the electorate I represent who had approached me about this, in particular Adam a dnata worker from Lethbridge Park and a couple of blokes out at Blacktown who had been affected.

I want to respond to some of the government speakers who said, 'JobKeeper was designed not to support companies owned by other governments.' This is a rewriting of history because the Treasurer made a last-minute decision that affected those workers. As the Transport Workers Union and my colleague the member for Fremantle have rightly and strongly pointed out, these workers were being denied at the last minute.

Before anyone gets the notion that these workers somehow are working overseas I point out that they're not. They're Australian workers on Australian soil, paying Australian taxes. They would have expected that the Australian government would have backed them in, but it didn't.

The only other remark I would make on this is that it's clear that when we've had competition in Australia in the domestic aviation market it has meant that mums and dads could get a better deal on the costs of travel in this country. If one carrier collapses, everyone knows what's going to happen. The cost of tickets is going to skyrocket. The suggestion is now that Virgin is going to be a cut-price carrier. We already had some of them. It will be interesting to see if they emerge. By all accounts it will not be the same Virgin airline that once operated. It will be different. You have to wonder what the state of the aviation market will be.

On top of that, from time to time, the government says that it is willing to put money into coal-fired power stations, but it won't put money into a sector that has been here for a while that is providing and injecting competition. Also—and I note the presence of the member for Bennelong—where is the money for high-speed rail? We have one of the busiest airline corridors on the planet, which goes from Brisbane to Sydney to Melbourne, and the government won't provide another alternative in terms of transport and investment—which I know the member for Bennelong champions quite a lot—that would open up opportunities for workers that might move from one sector, aviation, to another. We need to be able to think long term about the creation of jobs. All this short-term thinking will deny people employment when they need the security of that job longer term. That is why I commend the member for Ballarat's resolution.

Sharon Bird (Cunningham, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

The time allotted for this debate has expired. The debate is adjourned and the resumption of the debate will be made an order of the day for the next sitting.