[Peetwo]

McDolittle/Sterlo aviation inquiries - one week till final report tabling?? - 

Except for the filing of a 'confidential' submission, which according to Lead Balloon was momentarily able to be downloaded...

Lead Balloon

Interesting that submission 73 to the GA inquiry was initially available for download (I downloaded a copy early this morning) but it is now named 'Confidential' with no download available. Some strange things have been going on with a couple of submissions to this inquiry.

...otherwise not much activity in the McDolittle GA inquiry, nor is there mention about the promised CASA estimates spillover hearing? I also note that to this point in time that there is no QON index for all the Departmental/agency QON asked at Supplementary Estimates? This says to me that the Government has already 'racked the cue' an gone into an unofficial 'caretaker' mode...

However there was activity in Sterlo's 'Aviation Sector Post-COVID inquiry' with a public hearing held last week at Mascot - Hansard link: https://parlinfo.aph.gov.au/parlInfo/sea...%2F0000%22         

McDolittle was present at that hearing:

Senator McDONALD: This inquiry is about the impact of COVID and the recovery and ongoing success of the aviation industry in Australia. We now have the benefit of being two years into COVID, and I think this is the fourth time you've appeared in front of this particular inquiry. You're now starting to have seen the impacts play out, and your advice to this committee has matured. Is there anything in particular that you see as a priority to assist the aviation industry return? I'm thinking both domestically and internationally. We've had some real challenges domestically around the cost of flights. We've just mentioned the additional security requirements. We've also had the airfield access cards and core cards. We did some work on that during COVID. But what do you think we could next be turning our attention to to assist the aviation industry to flourish in Australia? I should flag that I'm speaking, too, of general aviation in this space and the supply chain of pilots, engineers and other necessary staff.

Ms Quigley : I think the framework that's come out was intending to try to highlight the areas that we felt needed particular focus, and it's important to note that the framework is intended to capture not all the government aviation policy activity but the six areas of priorities that we want to work very closely on with government. I think it also recognises that there are other things happening across government to support things, and the tourism agenda is one example of where we need to make sure that departments are working together to achieve that benefit for the economy.

I'm sure Mr Wood can contribute to this, in terms of general aviation and technology, but I think key areas for us are making sure that, where we've got government roles and responsibilities, they are working as effectively as possible so that our regulatory frameworks are fit for purpose going forward, and there's a range of work that we've started in reviewing our airport regulatory frameworks. They haven't been reviewed for some time, so it's timely for us to have a look at that. We're also looking at things around the environment, particularly in relation to airport activity, and we have a range of programs to make sure that we're managing the environmental impacts on airport. I wonder whether Richard wanted to talk about general aviation and technology.

Mr Wood : Yes. I might touch on a couple of things, perhaps starting from the international side. I think demand is going to be the critical thing, which means having the confidence of travellers—in particular, tourists—to return to the Australian market. Both Commonwealth and state tourism entities are going to play an important role in that and, indeed, are doing so. In terms of general aviation, the government, as part of the framework, announced the development of a GA road map over the next 12 months, which we are commencing work on. I note, and I note, Senator, your particularly strong interest in, flight instruction and related issues. Something that the Deputy Prime Minister included in his recent statement of expectations was for CASA to explore mechanisms to ensure that flight instruction and related services are more widely, readily and efficiently available. They are doing work in relation to that as well.

Ms Quigley : We've got a particular interest in regional aviation. We know that they're traditionally quite thin markets, so recovery for regional aviation is something that we'll be watching very closely. We've got a range of regional aviation programs that have been around for some time that support infrastructure investment in regional Australia. I think those programs need to be reviewed to make sure, again, that what we were doing pre-COVID is going to be fit for purpose in terms of recovery, and we're watching how regional aviation comes through to see whether there are any market changes or any gaps that arise. That is a particular focus of this framework and of the department going forward.

Senator McDONALD: With the movement of pilots around the world, particularly internationally, as the aviation industry has closed down, reopened and so forth, do you think it's now timely to readdress the issues of harmonisation of regulation in Australia? I've been contacted by a number of organisations asking for us to genuinely harmonise with the bigger aviation regulatory sectors, like the FAA and New Zealand and our near neighbours, in a more genuine way than just numbering regulations. Is that something that we could turn our attention to now?

Mr Wood : It's something that we are looking at, particularly in relation to lowering export barriers for GA related goods and services. That's one of the things that we'll be doing as part of the GA framework that I touched on. I think harmonisation of regulatory systems is complex, because we are talking about different legal systems. Mutual recognition and those sorts of opportunities are there, and there is an obligation on us, CASA and others to harmonise with the ICAO standard operating practices et cetera. That's something that we do. It's not a straightforward process, but there are always opportunities to do that. Certainly, if there are specific issues that are identified by industry, that's something that we can take up and look into.

Senator McDONALD: Thank you. I will follow up on that, particularly the changes to air operator certificates. The upcoming changes that I think have been flagged may well have a real impact on company structures of smaller airlines.

Finally, I will ask you about the Qantas air academy and the government's support for that and the pipeline of pilots, which I assume has come about because of the failure of flying schools under the pressure of hassle, regulation and other challenges. We now have almost no flying schools left in regional Australia, and I just wonder if you could tell me how the Qantas academy is going to fill that hole.

Mr Dymowski : I think a number of our larger airlines—Rex and Qantas spring to mind—have flight training academies situated across the country to seek to manage their own skills needs going forward. To some extent, given the size of those academies, they will have impacts on broader aviation skills as well.

We are looking at the settings that are in place around flight training. I think something that we need to look at is what has been the impact of COVID and what that looks like in terms of supporting the next level of growth or the next expansion back in the aviation market. That's definitely something on our radar.

Senator McDONALD: Yes. I'm hearing from airports like Moorabbin, Essendon, Sunshine Coast and Canberra—a whole range of airports—that have been, in effect, privatised through the leasing arrangements. They are pushing aviation businesses off site or making it impossible to meet the costs of leases. That's one of the factors that are forcing flying through top airports, which just seems to me to be extraordinary for this nation. When we consider the future of aviation in this country, I would have thought the training of flight crew would be a core element, and we haven't touched on that at all. But we will continue to see more pressure on those businesses, and I guess that's why we start seeing academies being set up by Qantas and Virgin to fill that gap. That is a real tragedy, to my mind.

I will leave it there. I'm conscious that I've probably taken a lot of your time. Thank you to the department for your evidence today. I appreciate it.

MTF...P2