Jordon Steele-John (WA, Australian Greens) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Broken wheelchairs, the ignoring of instructions and disabled people being bumped off flights—the list of injustices suffered by disabled people at the hands of Australia's airlines goes on and on. Let me share with you a recent incident. A disabled man was tipped out of his wheelchair by Virgin Australia ground crew while attempting to board a flight. He was accompanied by two carers, whose instructions were reportedly ignored by crew members. This experience is not unique. It represents the hard reality for disabled people. In this instance, we saw the incredible harm done to this individual. In another incident, the same thing happened to Dr Dinesh Palipana, a former Queensland Australian of the Year who was flying from Brisbane to Melbourne to give a talk on disability inclusion.

These are not isolated incidents. In my role as a senator, I have had vital pieces of my chair either lost or broken by Australia's airlines on no fewer than three occasions, and I don't mind sharing with the Senate that this has then caused me to fall multiple times in my home and in public. I've also been kicked off flights when airlines have found out that I am a disabled person. This is discrimination, and it happens to disabled people all the time when we fly. I could share with you countless stories. The experiences are not just unacceptable; they are downright infuriating. It is 2023, yet disablism persists. We refuse to accept this as disabled people. There must be change, and the government must lead that change.