TRANSCRIPT: FIVE AA RADIO ADELAIDE INTERVIEW, 17 April 2020
E&OE
Subjects: Coronavirus, Government Support for Australia’s Domestic Aviation Network;
LEON BYNER:
Now, look, we have had, as you know, on this program, people calling us from interstate, stranded because they couldn't get home. Well, Qantas and Virgin Australia are going to operate, thanks to my next guest, a minimum domestic network service which gives access to metropolitan and regional routes in Australia. Now, this investment is going to cost about $165 million. So, to find out more, let's talk to the Deputy Prime Minister, Michael McCormack. Michael, thanks for joining us –
MICHAEL MCCORMACK:
A pleasure, Leon.
LEON BYNER:
– and I know you've spent a lot of time on this, haven't you?
MICHAEL MCCORMACK:
Yeah, it's been quite a few weeks in the making but all good things come to a conclusion and we've obviously today announced those flights from capital cities to capital cities but also importantly, Leon, to regional centres and included in those regional centres is Port Lincoln. Interested to hear from other regional centres if they need a service, I would urge and encourage them. We, on March 28, announced a regional service subsidy. That was about $198 million. So, today's announcement is $165 million. It does include Port Lincoln, today's domestic services. I know Rowan Ramsey and Tony Pasin and other South Australian Members have certainly been letting me know that their areas are important. They want services. They want aviation and today's announcement has been well received.
LEON BYNER:
So let's just look, first of all, we've got seven Qantas flights from Adelaide to Melbourne, this is per week, of course, for the next eight weeks.
MICHAEL MCCORMACK:
Yes.
LEON BYNER:
We've got seven Qantas flights Adelaide to Sydney, three Virgin flights from Adelaide to Melbourne, and also there's a big issue of freight too. I notice that Australia Post has had some issues with getting enough aircraft space because of the limited services. So this is going to help them too, isn't it?
MICHAEL MCCORMACK:
Well, Christine Holgate has been very keen, of course, to make sure that our postal deliveries continue as normal as can be in these circumstances and, of course, they use Qantas, they use airfreight. They want those planes in the air to deliver not just the letters but also the freight, of course. But it's important. And if you have arrived back in Sydney, for example, from overseas, you've done your quarantine, you want to get back home to Adelaide, it's a long drive in a hire car and it would be much better to fly home to South Australia and you know, this is why this domestic network is so important.
LEON BYNER:
Yeah, look, I want – I tell you what, there's apparently, according to our calculations, about 240 people in Perth who want to get back to Adelaide. So presumably they'll have to go to Sydney or Melbourne and then fly back to Adelaide, won't they, on this?
MICHAEL MCCORMACK:
Well look, yes and of course, it is demand driven. So yes, the flight schedules are up now but I'm sure if there are people, you know, and there'll be a few milk run sort of services, but I'm sure if there is enough demand I'm sure the airlines would look at that. I know this is going to ease the burden. I appreciate that people are doing it tough in these times and they are extraordinary times and that's why the Federal Government has invested more than $320 billion and done things such as JobSeeker and JobKeeper which honestly, Leon, if you had have said this time last year that the Federal Government would be doing this when we were so close to making sure that the books were balanced and the surplus was going to be finally achieved after 12 years, if you ever said 12 months ago this was going to occur, I think people would have looked at you, quite in alarm. But we've done the necessary things and the important thing is we're saving lives, first and foremost, and we're protecting livelihoods.
LEON BYNER:
Now, there's a very practical question here. First of all, how do people get these flights? Do those that are stranded or want to get back home, do they just book through the airline or what do they do?
MICHAEL MCCORMACK:
Yes, in the usual way. So Virgin and Qantas, they've got them online now. In fact, they went online last night at 9.02pm. So the announcement was made at 9 o'clock and –
LEON BYNER:
That's quick.
MICHAEL MCCORMACK:
– They were up online, yes, very, very quick. And so they realise the importance too and of course, they want to get as many planes in the air as they can and as many of their baggage handlers and other people who are working, back and being industrious.
LEON BYNER:
Now, look, are we going to see – a lot of people have asked this question – are they going to have a different seating arrangement where we've got this social distancing thing? I can't imagine that –
MICHAEL MCCORMACK:
Yes, they are. Yes, they are.
LEON BYNER:
I thought so, yeah.
MICHAEL MCCORMACK:
Well, look, it's a situation on a plane that the air is filtered, and it changes every five minutes, and that's why there hasn't been any incidents so far, to my knowledge, of people contracting COVID on an aeroplane. But, of course, when there were some cases where people have had COVID, I know the airlines went to great lengths to make sure that people sitting near them in the next five seats forward and back were contacted with the tracing and contacting that has been done. But there will be some social distancing of course, so that those available seats – hopefully they're full – the Government will, of course, subsidise the flights. Qantas and Virgin, they need to get in the air. They're getting in the air. They're doing the right responsible thing and it's good.
LEON BYNER:
All right. So your message, is if you've got relatives interstate and they want to get back home – now, most of them that are already interstate will have done the 14 days. So presumably, when they get to their final port, they're going to have to another 14 days, aren't they?
MICHAEL MCCORMACK:
Well, that depends on the state jurisdiction, the rules of course apply. And so, if the state is imposing a 14 day requirement on interstate travellers then yes, they'll have to do another 14 days but at least in this instance, they'll be in their home state.
LEON BYNER:
Alright. So now that you've brokered this, what's next on your plan?
MICHAEL MCCORMACK:
Oh, there are lots of things in my plan. What I want to do is see infrastructure brought forward. And I have daily conversations with Stephan Knoll, a great young fellow doing wonderful things in the infrastructure space in South Australia, and he and I had a phone hook-up yesterday about what South Australian regional and metropolitan infrastructure could be brought forward so that we could look at that. We want excavators in operation, we want high-vis workers on site. They can, by the very nature of the work that they do, exercise social distancing at work.
And so we want to build roads, we want to make sure that bridges are put in place. We've got $300 million worth of programs as far as Bridges and Heavy Vehicle Safety and Productivity programs out at the moment and we're looking for applications for those. We're looking for councils to get forward-leaning with those. David O'Loughlin has also been in contact with me about what they can do at a Local Government level. So there's plenty, plenty on the worksheet at the moment to do, Leon. So onwards and upwards.
LEON BYNER:
Deputy Prime Minister, thank you for joining us today. That's Michael McCormack just giving you - I know there were a lot of people champing at the bit on this one because there's many families who've got friends and relatives and others who are in all sorts of places across Australia. We've had a lot of callers from Perth recently. So, hopefully, that matter can be sorted out very quickly. And as you heard the Minister say, in case you're talking to family members and you're worried about how they book, they just go to their airline, whether it's Virgin or Qantas and make the booking.