[Peetwo]

DIRDTC - Aviation & Airports Estimates??

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Hansard for this segment starts from 1400 - HERE.

Senator CANAVAN: I want to start with—and I will come back to this later tonight with the relevant agencies. You might have seen some reports recently in the media that the radar system at the Rockhampton Airport is not exactly working to specifications. I'm asking that noting a clear conflict of interest from me: I'm a regular person who lands at the Rockhampton Airport. Is the department aware of these issues and has it been in discussions with, I presume, Airservices Australia about these deficiencies?

Ms Purvis-Smith : I might ask any colleagues if we've been in direct discussions about that particular issue. We're in discussions with the ASA on a regular basis. It is a matter for the ASA, though, rather than the department.

Senator CANAVAN: I get that, but this seems quite significant. Just to review, the article is about Rockhampton and Mackay airports. The Weekend Australian obtained detailed radar coverage logs—this was published on 11 February—which revealed 221 incidents of aircraft dropping off radars on approach to the two airports between July last year and January this year. Are you aware of these reports anywhere in the department?

Ms Purvis-Smith : I'm aware of some of the reports. I'm not sure if my colleague is. But I'm not aware that we've engaged directly on that with the ASA. That is definitely a matter for the ASA themselves.

Senator CANAVAN: I get that, but this seems pretty concerning. Mr Wood, are you aware of the reports?

Mr R Wood : I'm not aware of a specific report relating to Rockhampton or Mackay. I'm certainly aware of media commentary and of reports around service issues to do with Airservices Australia in some parts of the country, which we engage on, noting that the formal responsibility rests with Airservices and, to the extent that there are any safety issues, with the Civil Aviation Safety Authority.

Senator CANAVAN: Just to be clear, you're not even aware of the reports of this?

Mr R Wood : I don't recall a specific report about it to do with Rockhampton.

Senator CANAVAN: It was on page 5 of the Australian on Saturday. Presumably you get a media monitoring service. The headline is 'Aircraft vanishing from second-rate radar'. The department's not even aware of this problem?

Mr R Wood : I didn't see the Australian on the weekend, no. It may well be in our media clips but I didn't—

Senator McKENZIE: The Australian is excluded. You only get the Guardian, do you?

Senator CANAVAN: Presumably your keyword searches would include Airservices Australia, radar, things like this. Wouldn't that article have been flagged?

Mr R Wood : I didn't read the newspaper clips on Saturday morning. I've been doing my Senate estimates preparation. That's one of the things I no doubt will see when I'm back in—

Senator CANAVAN: I am very shocked about this, to be honest. I mean, I'm not expecting you to trawl through the paper. How many people are in your branch, Mr Wood?

Mr R Wood : In the division we've got approximately 80 staff.

Senator CANAVAN: With 80 staff, I would have thought somebody—something mustn't be working very well when an article appears in a newspaper seeing 'second-rate radar' and there have been 221 incidents of aircraft dropping off the radar, and no-one of those 80 people thinks it's worth saying, 'Hey, maybe the FAS needs to know that this is an issue. Here's an article.' Do you think you need to go back and check your processes within the department? This seems a shocking lack of accountability. As we said earlier, this is a matter for Airservices Australia. I get that. But you are the department in charge of them. If there's a major issue popping up saying there's a safety concern, I would have thought you'd at least be alerted to it, rather than relying on a senator who has four staff, not 80.

Mr R Wood : Of course, very few of these staff work directly on airspace related issues. That said, we do look at the clips and we engage regularly with Airservices. These are the sorts of things that may come up in our general engagement with Airservices.

Senator CANAVAN: Now that I've alerted you to it, I hope that someone does go back and try to get to the bottom of what the hell is going on.

UFB??

MTF...P2