Bridget McKenzie (Victoria, National Party, Shadow Minister for Infrastructure, Transport and Regional Development) Share this | Hansard source

My question is to the Minister representing the Treasurer, Senator Gallagher. In defending the government's policy of protecting a certain carrier and slugging travellers with high-cost airfares, the Prime Minister has repeatedly claimed, 'In Australia we have the most open aviation market in the world, bar none.' He said that on ABC radio on 31 August. Again, on Sky News, he said, 'It, in fact, is the most competitive market in the world.' The government's two-month-late Aviation green paper, released by the minister for transport today, says on page 26:

Australia's domestic aviation sector is highly concentrated, with few market participants … Combined, the two groups control 95.1 per cent of the Australian domestic market.

Minister, who is correct: the Prime Minister or Minister Catherine King's Aviation green paper?