AIRFARES — REGIONS
204. Ms A.E. KENT to the Premier:
I refer to the McGowan Labor
government's unprecedented investment in supporting those living in
regional Western Australia, in particular its record of making airfares more affordable
for residents in the regions. Can the Premier update the house on this
government's commitment to capping airfares for regional Western Australia
and outline how this will help ease the cost of living for those living in the
regions?
Mr M. McGOWAN
replied:
Thank
you to the member for Kalgoorlie, who joined me in Kalgoorlie last Thursday
with the Minister for Transport and Hon Kyle McGinn for this important
announcement.
One
of the important commitments that we made at the last state election was to cap
regional airfares, ensuring that we
made them more affordable for people living in regional WA. It is something
that has never been done before in Australia and certainly is something
that no government in Western Australia has done before. From 1 July, those
living in regional Western Australia and leaving an airport within 1 000
kilometres driving distance from Perth will pay no more than $199 one way. This
includes Albany, Esperance, Kalgoorlie, Geraldton, Monkey Mia, Wiluna, Laverton, Leonora, Meekatharra and Mt Magnet.
For those people living more than 1 000 kilometres driving distance from Perth, flights will be capped at
$299 one way. This includes Broome, Exmouth, Kununurra, Karratha, Port
Hedland, Newman and Paraburdoo. We know that the cost of airfares has been a significant
issue for people across regional WA for a long time and, obviously, this will
mean that airfares will be significantly more affordable for the vast majority
of people living across regional Western Australia. This is an issue that no
government has tackled before, but upon arriving in office, we put one of the
parliamentary committees, chaired by the member for Swan Hills, to work on an
inquiry into regional airfares. The Minister for Transport negotiated with the
airlines about how to provide more affordable
and accessible regional airfares. We have seen Qantas, Virgin Australia and Skippers
Aviation introduce resident fares and Rex Airlines introduce community fares.
This is the latest step in the process to ensure that regional airfares are
more affordable for people who actually live in the regions and want to travel
to Perth. I am sure that this will be much appreciated by many people across
regional WA. The government has stepped in to
ensure that airfares are more affordable for those people in regional WA who
want to visit Perth, for whatever reason. It is a significant
cost-of-living initiative to support regional WA, as this government always
does.