Year: 2023

Unions have pointed to a 2022 Australian National Audit Office report, which showed CASA’s surveillance activities declining by 31 per cent between 2017–18 and 2020–21, saying there is a “mismatch” between CASA staffing and anticipated surveillance levels.

Transport Minister Catherine King has blamed the lack of action around Sydney take-off slots on the previous Coalition government and confirmed more news will come before the release of the White Paper.

The Green Paper, weighing in at more than 200 pages, covers areas including the transition to net zero, consumer protections, competition, and aviation affordability. It is open for comment until 30 November.

The Brisbane Airport Curfew and Demand Management Bill 2023 would introduce an hourly cap on flights, while non-emergency flights would be subjected to a late-night curfew. More flights would be routed over the water rather than the city where possible.

The incident involved 13 Australian women aboard Qatar Airways flight QR908 from Doha to Sydney who were asked to leave the plane to be escorted to ambulances for the invasive check.

Minister Wong’s office confirmed she had discussed the incident, in which 13 Australian women were forced to remove their underwear for invasive genital exams, in a phone call with Qatar’s PM and Foreign Minister Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman bin Jassim Al-Thani on Monday.