National Aviation Policy Statement
Labor HQ
posted Wednesday, 16 December 2009
The Rudd Labor
Government has today released its National Aviation Policy Statement, a road map
to help secure the future of the industry while maintaining the highest safety
and security standards and addressing community needs.
The National Aviation
Policy is about giving industry the certainty and incentives to plan and invest
for the long term, strengthening safety and security and addressing the needs of
travellers, airport users and communities affected by aviation
activity.
Globally, aviation is
dealing with the impacts of the worst economic crisis in its almost 100-year
history.
The Rudd Government's
Economic Stimulus Plan has helped make Australian airlines more resilient during
the global recession by sustaining consumer demand.
It is clear that we
need to take a strategic, planned approach in preparing for future economic,
security and environmental challenges.
The National Aviation
Policy, "Flight Path to the Future", outlines more than 130 policy initiatives,
as part of a comprehensive forward-looking framework to guide future
growth.
Major issues
addressed in the policy include the following:
SAFETY AND
SECURITY
Safety and security
remains the Government's number one priority in aviation. The Government will
implement a range of measures to:
- strengthen baggage
and passenger screening requirements; - tighten the Aviation
Security Identification Card Scheme; - improve
security screening standards and training programs; - modernise air traffic
management, including the use of satellite technology; and - provide further
funding to the Civil Aviation Safety Authority and introduce long term funding
principles to strengthen its regulatory oversight and
operations.
ECONOMIC GROWTH
The Government will
take a competition-based approach that increases choice and flexibility while
securing our national interest. We will:
- pursue a new
generation of liberalised air service agreements that include open capacity,
safety, security, the environment, competition and
investment; - retain the
restriction of 49 per cent restriction on foreign investment in Australian
international airlines but remove the secondary restrictions applying only to
Qantas preventing overseas individuals and foreign airlines holding more than 25
per cent and 35 per cent ownership; and - encourage
international airlines to increase services to secondary international gateways
like Cairns, Darwin and Broome.
PASSENGER BENEFITS
AND CONSUMER PROTECTIONS
The Government will
introduce a number of practical and common sense measures to provide a better
and safer travelling experience for passengers.
These changes will
better align Australia with international standards. They
include:
- allowing
duty-free liquid purchases to remain on board aircraft during transitional stops
on international flights; - removing
items such as knitting needle and nail clippers from the Prohibited Items list
to allow security screeners to focus on items of real
risk; - allowing
airlines and airport outlets to provide metal cutlery; - increase
caps on compulsory insurance for airlines and liability for domestic passenger
travel following air accidents; - working
with the industry and disability advocates to improve access to air services;
and - establishing customer service charters
for airlines and an industry ombudsman to monitor
complaints.
COMMUNITY ENGAGEMENT
The Government
strongly supports continued investment in airport and aviation
infrastructure. Development at our airports must be planned, and
communities properly
consulted. Our policy initiatives include:
- prohibiting
developments incompatible with aviation use on federal airport sites unless
exceptional circumstances exist, and making sure nearby developments are
compatible with airports' core activities and long term
planning; - requiring federal
airports to establish Community Aviation Consultation Groups; - requiring federal
airports to submit more detailed Master Plans; and - establishing a
planning taskforce with the NSW Government to identify strategies and locations
to meet additional aviation capacity for the Sydney region.
The Government will
also address the impacts of aircraft noise by:
- establishing a new
Aircraft Noise Ombudsman; - regulating to stop
older, noisier aircraft flying over residential areas; - maintain curfews at
Sydney, Adelaide, Gold Coast and Essendon Airports.
CLIMATE
CHANGE
Aviation must play
its part in tackling the challenge of climate change. The Government
will:
- work with the
industry to undertake practical measures, such as using more fuel-efficient
aircraft and better air traffic management to shorten
flights; - include domestic
aviation in the Carbon Pollution Reduction Scheme legislation that we will
reintroduce into Parliament in 2010; and - continue to work
through the International Civil Aviation Organization to establish a framework
for the treatment of international aviation emissions without unfairly
disadvantaging Australia's international airlines.
REGIONAL AND REMOTE
AVIATION
The Government will
encourage air services and access to regional and remote locations through a
range of measures, including:
- consolidating
existing funding programs into a coordinated single
program; - better targeting of
the Airservices Enroute Charge subsidy; and - maintaining regional
slots and pricing rules for regional airlines at Sydney
Airport.
GENERAL
AVIATION
The Government
recognises the importance of general aviation in supporting a range of
industries and training ground future pilots. We will:
- ensure airport master
plans maintain a strong focus on aviation development at secondary airports;
and - cap overall
regulatory service fees at current real levels for at least five
years.
INDUSTRY SKILLS AND
PRODUCTIVITY
The Government will
introduce a number of policy measures to ensure a well-trained and
highly-skilled workforce in aviation. These include:
- streamlining the
process for aviation training organisations to access VET FEE-HELP;
and - expanding the role of
Industry Skills Councils in developing nationally consistent training
programs.
Australian aviation
is a major economic driver, supporting more than half a million jobs and
injecting nearly $6.3 billion into the economy.
In the last financial
year, domestic airlines carried more than 50 million passengers and 23 million
aircraft journeys were made to and from Australia
The National Aviation
Policy balances the need for economic growth and investment with security and
safety priorities and the rights of communities and travellers.
The policy was
developed following rigorous public consultation, including over 530 submissions
from the industry, state and local governments and the
community.
The full White Paper
is available at www.infrastructure.gov.au.
Tags: Airport, Aviation