REGIONAL AIRFARES —
STUDENTS AND PENSIONERS
650. Mr V.A. CATANIA to the Minister for Transport:
I refer to the changes to the
student travel subsidies and the pensioner annual free trip scheme by which the
Department of Transport has changed the refund fares for travel undertaken from
1 August 2019.
(1) Is the minister aware that many recipients will be
faced with paying a gap of between $200 and $500-plus?
(2) Is the
minister aware that many pensioners are compelled to use these airfares at
short notice for reasons such as medical requirements or family emergencies,
but due to the changes may not be able to utilise their free trip when
required?
(3) Does the
minister plan to remedy this situation to ensure that students and pensioners
are not in a worse position than before the changes came into effect?
Mr D.T. Redman: Good
question.
The SPEAKER: Well, let us
hear the good answer.
Ms R.
SAFFIOTI replied:
(1)–(3) I
thank the member for that question. I will provide details about those changes
by the close of business today, but my understanding is that pensioners and
students would not be worse off. I will provide further details by the end of
today.