❓ INTERREGIONAL FLIGHT NETWORK 321. Mr K.J.J. MICHEL to the Minister for Transport: I refer to the McGowan Labor government's efforts to make regional Western Australia an even more vibrant and attracti
AnsweredQoN 321Legislative Assembly
QuestionView source ↗
INTERREGIONAL FLIGHT
NETWORK
321. Mr K.J.J. MICHEL to the Minister for Transport:
I refer to the McGowan Labor
government's efforts to make regional Western Australia an even more
vibrant and attractive place to live.
(1) Can the
minister update the house on this government's initiatives to support
regional aviation, including the interregional flight network?
(2) Can the minister advise how the
launch of a new airline today complements these efforts?
NETWORK
321. Mr K.J.J. MICHEL to the Minister for Transport:
I refer to the McGowan Labor
government's efforts to make regional Western Australia an even more
vibrant and attractive place to live.
(1) Can the
minister update the house on this government's initiatives to support
regional aviation, including the interregional flight network?
(2) Can the minister advise how the
launch of a new airline today complements these efforts?
AnswerView source ↗
I thank the
member for Pilbara for that question.
(1)–(2) Today, the Deputy Premier, the member for
Geraldton, the member for Pilbara, and, of course, the member for Broome—Kimberley;
I am sorry about that. I was thinking about where we were flying to. That is
what confused me! Aviair launched a new airline. Nexus Airlines was today
announced as the new airline servicing Western Australia. It is an
interregional airline and very much has the support of the state government, both from my portfolio in the area of
transport and, of course, in the Deputy Premier's tourism portfolio. Creating a more accessible and affordable regional aviation network
has been a key priority of this government, and we are delivering. Today,
together with the announcement of the new airline, we will have new interregional routes that will support people living and
working in regional WA. Connections from Geraldton into the Kimberley
and the Pilbara will be supported financially by the state government. Some $4 million
has been allocated for the new routes connecting Geraldton into the Pilbara and
the Kimberley. That is on top of other support that we have already extended to
support interregional flights. We will see a new daily flight from Geraldton to
Perth in the morning, and it will fly back later that day. This will support
Geraldton residents to access Perth and it will support Geraldton
businesspeople who want to make the daily commute to Perth but do not want to
stay away from their families overnight. We are again supporting the strong
resources industries through the Pilbara. The interconnecting flights will mean
people can now fly from not only Perth into our regional ports, but also within
regional WA. I congratulate the Aviair team for its passion and dedication for
getting this new airline up. The planes are
bigger; they are 76-seat planes, up from the nine-seat planes. That is a massive
increase in capacity. We see investment from the state, whether it is
these new flights or the flights to Broome, Derby, across the Kimberley and the
north west. We are very much supporting regional aviation.
I was able to highlight this morning
the success of the regional airfare zone cap scheme that has seen over 100 000
airfares sold under that scheme. That is far greater than we anticipated. Of
course, this new Geraldton–Perth flight will have access to the new
capped scheme. When I announced it this morning, I was talking about the new
regional airfare zone cap scheme and someone shouted out from the audience, ''Great
work! Great initiative!'' I looked around. I thought it was the member
for Kimberley, but it was not. I thought it was the member for Geraldton, but
it was not. I thought it was the member for Pilbara, but it was not. But there
was the former member for Pilbara Brendon Grylls in the audience who shouted
out, ''Great work! Great initiative!'' It completely broke my
train of thought, as members can imagine. First of all, I did not know he was
there. Secondly, there we were, and he lead a round of applause from the entire
audience.
Our regional airfare zone cap
scheme is the first in the nation. It guarantees affordable prices for regional
residents. I am very proud that we have delivered this initiative. It is a world-leading
program to support regional Western Australia. I am glad that at least someone
in the National Party, even though he is a past member, actually acknowledges
and understands what this Labor government is doing for regional WA.
member for Pilbara for that question.
(1)–(2) Today, the Deputy Premier, the member for
Geraldton, the member for Pilbara, and, of course, the member for Broome—Kimberley;
I am sorry about that. I was thinking about where we were flying to. That is
what confused me! Aviair launched a new airline. Nexus Airlines was today
announced as the new airline servicing Western Australia. It is an
interregional airline and very much has the support of the state government, both from my portfolio in the area of
transport and, of course, in the Deputy Premier's tourism portfolio. Creating a more accessible and affordable regional aviation network
has been a key priority of this government, and we are delivering. Today,
together with the announcement of the new airline, we will have new interregional routes that will support people living and
working in regional WA. Connections from Geraldton into the Kimberley
and the Pilbara will be supported financially by the state government. Some $4 million
has been allocated for the new routes connecting Geraldton into the Pilbara and
the Kimberley. That is on top of other support that we have already extended to
support interregional flights. We will see a new daily flight from Geraldton to
Perth in the morning, and it will fly back later that day. This will support
Geraldton residents to access Perth and it will support Geraldton
businesspeople who want to make the daily commute to Perth but do not want to
stay away from their families overnight. We are again supporting the strong
resources industries through the Pilbara. The interconnecting flights will mean
people can now fly from not only Perth into our regional ports, but also within
regional WA. I congratulate the Aviair team for its passion and dedication for
getting this new airline up. The planes are
bigger; they are 76-seat planes, up from the nine-seat planes. That is a massive
increase in capacity. We see investment from the state, whether it is
these new flights or the flights to Broome, Derby, across the Kimberley and the
north west. We are very much supporting regional aviation.
I was able to highlight this morning
the success of the regional airfare zone cap scheme that has seen over 100 000
airfares sold under that scheme. That is far greater than we anticipated. Of
course, this new Geraldton–Perth flight will have access to the new
capped scheme. When I announced it this morning, I was talking about the new
regional airfare zone cap scheme and someone shouted out from the audience, ''Great
work! Great initiative!'' I looked around. I thought it was the member
for Kimberley, but it was not. I thought it was the member for Geraldton, but
it was not. I thought it was the member for Pilbara, but it was not. But there
was the former member for Pilbara Brendon Grylls in the audience who shouted
out, ''Great work! Great initiative!'' It completely broke my
train of thought, as members can imagine. First of all, I did not know he was
there. Secondly, there we were, and he lead a round of applause from the entire
audience.
Our regional airfare zone cap
scheme is the first in the nation. It guarantees affordable prices for regional
residents. I am very proud that we have delivered this initiative. It is a world-leading
program to support regional Western Australia. I am glad that at least someone
in the National Party, even though he is a past member, actually acknowledges
and understands what this Labor government is doing for regional WA.
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