Parliamentary record : Part I debates (02 October 1990)
Debates for 5th Assembly 1987 - 1990; ParliamentNT; Parliamentary Record; 5th Assembly 1987 - 1990
1990-10-02
Made available by the Legislative Assembly of the Northern Territory
English
Debates
Northern Territory Legislative Assembly
Darwin
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Legislative Assembly of the Northern Territory
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https://hdl.handle.net/10070/220324
https://hdl.handle.net/10070/699493
DEBATES - Tuesday 2 Octeber 1990 tells peeple hew high he is and whether he is nerth er seuth ef a particular strip. Mr Finch: Yeu de net de that any mere. Mr BELL: Mr Speaker, the heneurable minister interjects. He says yQU do. nQt tell peQple that any mQre. I am nQt sure whether the minister uses a radio. when he is flying an aerQplane Qr nQt, but if he has nQt dQne sO. till nQW, I WQuld be mQst surprised. . At least he shQuld be hQnest abQut that because, Qn radio. this mQrning, he tried to' blame that Qn the federal gQvernment. He said: 'Oh, I do. nQt blame the Civil AviatiQn AuthQrity. They are simply dQing what the PQliticians have set them'. Straight after Qur bQld minister was Qn the radio., we heard the Assistant General Manager Qf OperatiQnal Standards and Precedures who. PQinted Qut that it was a Civil Avi atiQn AuthQrity prQPQsa 1 tQa lter airspace management requirements. The fact is that, in this day and agb, with the capacity fQr peQple to' cQmmunicate by the use Qf radiQs, transPQnders, radar etc, it is highly apprQpri ate that ai rspace management techni ques alter to' keep pace with changing technQlegy. I thQught the minister was bright enQugh and hQnest eneugh at least to' bring that into' the discussiQn: Mr Finch: Are yQU supPQrting this mQve? YQU had better turn up O.n Thursday night and put yQur views. Mr BELL: Mr Speaker, I wi 11 net be accused Qf accepting who. 1 esa 1 e all Qf these prQPQsed changes.. As I said, I expressed CQncerns abQut the c 1 Qsure Qf fl i ght servi ce uni ts. Li kewi se, I expressed SQme CQncern abQut altered airspace management requirements with respect to' SQme airfields. The hQnQurable minister mentiQned Jabiru. I have nQt experienced difficulty myself flying into' Jabiru, and I have dQne so. Qn 2 Qr 3 QccasiQns. I have experienced difficulty Qn several eccasiQns when flying into' Yulara. In fact, mQst times when I have flQwn into' Yulara, I have experienced CQncern abQut the regular jet traffic. It seems to' me that there is a greater vQlume of scenic flights cQming Qut Qf Yolara than I have seen cQming Qut Qf Jabiru. On the basis Qf visitQr numbers, I supPQse that is hardly surpri sing, but I am CQncerned abQut the prQPQsed changes with respect to' Yul ara. I bel i eve that demQnstrates the di fference between flyi ng into' 2 i so. 1 ated ai rstri ps, Qne Qf whi ch yQU recei ve fl i ght i nfQrmat i Qn f6r and Qne Qf which yQU do. nQt. Let us bear in mind that there have been many peeple flying many hQursintQ airstrips where they gave a 20-mile call Qn VHF, picked up infQrmatiQn thrQugh the radio. themselves abQut traffic in the area, nQt necessarily with the assistance Qf flight services, and maintained separat i Qn Qn that bas is. I suggest the hQnQurab 1 e mi n i ster have a wQrd wi th Ozz i e Watts, Qne Qf the great fi gures in TerritQry avi at i Qn, abQut PQssibilities in that regard. As I say, the aviatiQn industry has to' mQve ahead with imprQvements in technelQgy. We have to' ensure that TerritQrians are prQtected and that TerritQrians cQntinue to' have,a safe flying envirQnment. I suggest that the minister's attempt to' take this into' cQnsideratiQn has been far less than adequate. As I said to' him last week, it is abQut time that he intrQduced preferably a separate statement Qn each Qf these issues instead Qf getting his rQcks Qff in questiQn time in the hQpe that peQple will say what a gQQd fellQw Freddie is and that they do. nQt fly in aerQplanes anyway. In terms Qf actually infQrming,the TerritQry public, he is dQing a wQeful jQb. During questiQn time last week, I referred to' the questiQn Qf remQvals to' the nQrth side Qf the Darwi n Ai rpQrt. That makes 4 issues that the henQurable minister shQuld address statements to' in this HQuse, and I WQuld 10 721