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House of Assembly - Fifty-Second Parliament, Second Session (52-2)
2012-05-29 Daily Xml
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REGIONAL EXPRESS AIRLINES

Mr PENGILLY (Finniss) (15:40): I draw to the attention of the house and the parliament, and, more particularly, the government, the situation with Regional Express Airlines (known as Rex) on Christmas Day this year. Rex is a very good regional airline operating in Queensland, New South Wales, Victoria, Tasmania and South Australia. It provides an excellent service. It is a very safe airline and it has good staff. I use it very regularly, as do a couple of other members in this place. My argument is not with that side of the Rex operation.

My concern and what has been brought to my attention is that on Christmas Day Rex Airlines is ceasing operations for the day around Australia. They are taking the day off and I know that their staff want to have the day off with their families as everyone else does on Christmas Day so I can understand that side of it, but it probably comes down more to the point of how many passengers travel on that day.

In this state they travel to Ceduna, Whyalla, Broken Hill, Mount Gambier, Port Lincoln and Kingscote. Of these places the only port that is serviced by another airline is Port Lincoln, by QantasLink. These places are a long way from town, and on Christmas Day many people who have worked overnight—shift workers, police, nurses and the list goes on—like to get home on Christmas Day, and they do so by Rex.

This situation is exacerbated on the island because in those other places you can drive if you have to. It is an eight-hour drive to Ceduna, I totally understand that. However, Kangaroo Island is going to be left completely in the lurch. It is going to have no airline service and already SeaLink, the ferry service, does not operate to the island on Christmas Day; they have the day off for their staff, and other reasons as well, and, as I said before, I understand that.

However, the government is spending millions of dollars promoting Kangaroo Island, and I know from my time in tourism that there are always people (internationals) who want to come and do a tour of Kangaroo Island on Christmas Day. I know, again from personal experience, that many family members either want to travel to the island on the morning of Christmas Day or some family members over there who for one reason or another have to travel to the mainland for Christmas Day and they are simply not going to be able to do that.

Tourism operators have contacted me; they are quite upset about this. It seems absolutely ludicrous to promote the place as a great destination, particularly for internationals but also for domestics, and for them not to be able to get there or back on Christmas Day. I know that Rex must run as a profitable business. We expect them to run as a profitable business (they are not into the tourism business and they do not market holidays) but they also provide a critical service. I think, quite frankly, they do have an obligation to provide that service on Christmas Day.

The point I make is that it is going to cause a lot of distress and anger, I would suggest, on the island particularly, and possibly in other places, when the general public finds out that there are not going to be any services on Christmas Day. It is a big network and people who rely on that service to get family or themselves to and from destinations—particularly the tourism industry—are going to be left high and dry on Christmas Day with no Rex services.

I believe it is beholden on the tourism minister and the government to meet with Rex to discuss this matter and to question why they are doing this. At the risk of repeating myself, they are a very good airline. However, it is most disappointing and it is going to be highly disruptive for many people and the tourism industry to not have Rex servicing their routes on Christmas Day and more particularly to not have them servicing Kangaroo Island, which is going to be left without any air or ferry service whatsoever.

I make the point here that hopefully the government may pick up on this. They may or may not be aware of this, I do not know. The Minister for Tourism is in the other place but we have a couple of transport ministers here who should be able to pick up on it as well. It is a private company, not a government company, but it is an important matter and I ask the house to take note.

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