Transport safety
Matthew L James
National safety regulation
The Budget provides an extra $8.3 million to
facilitate nationwide regulation of the rail, road and maritime
sectors. Funding is to be used to establish a national heavy
vehicle (over 4.5 tonnes) regulator based in Brisbane, a national
rail safety regulator based in Adelaide, and extra resources for
the Australian National Maritime Safety Authority (AMSA) in
Canberra. The funding implements reforms developed in cooperation
with state and territory governments and formally approved by the
Council of Australian Governments in December 2009. The Australian
Government is also to provide an extra $14.5 million for Australian
transport safety authorities to maintain work with their Indonesian
counterparts in the aviation and maritime sectors. This additional
funding builds upon $24 million allocated in 2008 and involves the
training of safety inspectors and accident investigators, plus
joint search and rescue exercises.
Civil Aviation Safety Authority
(CASA)
CASA will recruit about 100 extra frontline
staff, through $89.9 million in new funding over four years, to be
raised by an increase in the aviation fuel excise (from $0.02854 to
$0.03556 per litre or a rise of 25 percent).[1] These additional safety specialists,
analysts and airworthiness inspectors should allow CASA to expand
surveillance activities and fulfil complex regulatory
responsibilities. Initial recruitment has already been allocated
$3.9 million for 2009–2010 in forward estimates.
Aviation security
The Budget provides almost $200 million to the
rollout of new and additional measures announced in the
Aviation Security Package of 9 February 2010. It
includes $28.5 million for a range of new technologies at passenger
screening points, $32 million over four years to enable screening
at regional airports, $18.2 million also over four years to improve
security cooperation in the Asia-Pacific region and $54.2 million
over four years for air cargo industry x-ray screening and
explosive trace detection technology. These are cross-portfolio
measures.
Aviation strategic plan for the Sydney region
As foreshadowed in the 2009 National
Aviation Policy White Paper, the Government is to provide $8.5
million in 2010–2011 to jointly develop this plan with the
New South Wales Government. The Plan is to consider options for
additional capacity in the Sydney region as well as future options
for the release of land at the Commonwealth’s Badgerys Creek
site.
[1]. A
Albanese (Minister for Infrastructure, Transport, Regional
Development and Local Government), Budget delivers an
unprecedented boost to aviation, media release,
11 May 2010, viewed 13 May 2010,
http://www.minister.infrastructure.gov.au/aa/releases/2010/May/budget-infra_04-2010.htm