Ms CARNEY - 2002-10-10
Minister, in the Estimates Committee hearing you undertook …
Members interjecting.
Ms CARNEY: Well, if you do not think tourism is important, government, then I shall tell those in the industry.
Minister, in the Estimates Committee, you undertook to give consideration to chartering aircraft to establish air services between Darwin and Singapore. Can you tell us whether you have undertaken those investigations and, if so, what was the outcome?
ANSWER
Again, thanks to the member for Araluen for the question. Yes, it was an interesting debate. Approached in the right way, the Estimates Committee process can be a two-way exchange of information and feedback. The member for Katherine went back to an initiative of the previous government that occurred in the pilot’s strike in Australia. I forget when that was, but it was in the mid-1980s, when we had the situation across Australia where both Qantas - or TAA as it was then – and Ansett were grounded during the pilots strike and there was no national capacity, and people were stranded. Not only did it strand tourists, but it stranded business and family travel around Australia. At that time, the previous government took an initiative to charter a plane to provide some additional capacity to that which the RAAF was providing in keeping essential travel moving. The member for Katherine asked whether we have looked at something like that.
We did, and we have to say that we are in a totally different climate from then. The problem we have at the moment is not the issue of domestic travel for which Qantas is serving us reasonably well, and certainly has rebuilt that capacity that was lost after the Ansett collapse, but the problem that we have, Madam Speaker …
Mr Reed: It wasn’t intended for domestic; it was Darwin to Singapore.
Mr HENDERSON: The member for Katherine should actually listen to the answer rather than mumbling through his glasses, Madam Speaker.
We did look at that, and the issue that we do have is international capacity into Darwin, a very complex area, particularly on the Darwin to Singapore leg where Qantas withdrew significant capacity last year.
After extensive discussions, and without pre-empting outcomes, we are loathe to enter and compete in the international aviation market. If we do intervene and compete - and one has to ask why we would do that. There are some good reasons on one side of the equation in terms of inbound capacity, but that would come at a cost. Analysis is that if Qantas and other operators cannot make a profit on that particular route, and that is obvious in the fact that they are not committing capacity to that at the moment, the cost to the taxpayer would be huge.
What we are doing, and as I will be in Singapore in a couple of weeks time, is talking to a number of international carriers to see how we can work with them and support their operations into the Northern Territory through cooperative marketing through the Tourist Commission. We are getting close with a couple of operators, and now is not the time to directly intervene into that market place, particularly as we are entering the slower part of the tourist season in the Top End. We have decided against directly intervening in the market. We will be working with those operators, and I will be in Singapore in a couple of weeks time.
Members interjecting.
Ms CARNEY: Well, if you do not think tourism is important, government, then I shall tell those in the industry.
Minister, in the Estimates Committee, you undertook to give consideration to chartering aircraft to establish air services between Darwin and Singapore. Can you tell us whether you have undertaken those investigations and, if so, what was the outcome?
ANSWER
Again, thanks to the member for Araluen for the question. Yes, it was an interesting debate. Approached in the right way, the Estimates Committee process can be a two-way exchange of information and feedback. The member for Katherine went back to an initiative of the previous government that occurred in the pilot’s strike in Australia. I forget when that was, but it was in the mid-1980s, when we had the situation across Australia where both Qantas - or TAA as it was then – and Ansett were grounded during the pilots strike and there was no national capacity, and people were stranded. Not only did it strand tourists, but it stranded business and family travel around Australia. At that time, the previous government took an initiative to charter a plane to provide some additional capacity to that which the RAAF was providing in keeping essential travel moving. The member for Katherine asked whether we have looked at something like that.
We did, and we have to say that we are in a totally different climate from then. The problem we have at the moment is not the issue of domestic travel for which Qantas is serving us reasonably well, and certainly has rebuilt that capacity that was lost after the Ansett collapse, but the problem that we have, Madam Speaker …
Mr Reed: It wasn’t intended for domestic; it was Darwin to Singapore.
Mr HENDERSON: The member for Katherine should actually listen to the answer rather than mumbling through his glasses, Madam Speaker.
We did look at that, and the issue that we do have is international capacity into Darwin, a very complex area, particularly on the Darwin to Singapore leg where Qantas withdrew significant capacity last year.
After extensive discussions, and without pre-empting outcomes, we are loathe to enter and compete in the international aviation market. If we do intervene and compete - and one has to ask why we would do that. There are some good reasons on one side of the equation in terms of inbound capacity, but that would come at a cost. Analysis is that if Qantas and other operators cannot make a profit on that particular route, and that is obvious in the fact that they are not committing capacity to that at the moment, the cost to the taxpayer would be huge.
What we are doing, and as I will be in Singapore in a couple of weeks time, is talking to a number of international carriers to see how we can work with them and support their operations into the Northern Territory through cooperative marketing through the Tourist Commission. We are getting close with a couple of operators, and now is not the time to directly intervene into that market place, particularly as we are entering the slower part of the tourist season in the Top End. We have decided against directly intervening in the market. We will be working with those operators, and I will be in Singapore in a couple of weeks time.
Last updated: 09 Aug 2016