Coalition Bill introduced to boost airline transparency and drive lower prices

Australians are in the grip of a cost of living crisis, and few sectors are impacting households and businesses harder than passenger aviation.

Which is why Senators Bridget McKenzie and Dean Smith have today introduced a Private Senator’s Bill that would restore oversight of the domestic aviation market by the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC).

The monitoring would track prices, costs and profits relating to the supply of domestic air passenger transport services, and of related goods and services, for three years.

The aviation sector remains one of the most concentrated in the Australian economy, with the Qantas and Virgin Australia duopoly controlling 95% of the domestic market.

Meanwhile, recent dealings between the Albanese Government and Qantas regarding the blocking of additional Qatar Airways flights into Australia have reignited concerns about sector competition and transparency.

The ACCC would be required to publish a report of its findings at least once every quarter.

This Bill replicates the monitoring regime begun under the previous Coalition Government, which ran from June 2020 to June 2023.

In its final report in June, the ACCC found that “a lack of effective competition is a key reason why the industry has generally underperformed in terms of meeting the needs of both the travelling public and the parts of the economy that rely on domestic air travel.”

Despite its obvious benefit to the travelling public and boosting competition, the Albanese Government chose not to continue the monitoring.

Shadow Assistant Minister for Competition, Senator Dean Smith said Labor’s decision ignored advice from the ACCC that sector oversight should continue.

“The watchdog clearly said that ongoing monitoring would boost transparency and scrutiny of an industry in which new or growing airlines are trying to get established,” Senator Smith said.

“This is totally at odds with the Albanese Government’s supposed commitment to both transparency and making life cheaper for Australians.”

After days of public criticism, the Albanese Government has now confirmed the aviation sector will be included in its upcoming competition review, but it has not provided any details as to when the review will assess the industry, nor how it will be prioritised against other sectors.

Shadow Minister for Transport, Senator Bridget McKenzie said the Albanese Government is running a protection racket for Qantas, which has been highlighted by the Government’s recent decision to block Qatar Airways’ request for additional flights.

“After the monitoring ended, I wrote to the Treasurer asking him to instruct the ACCC to investigate airline competition and pricing, and provide recommendations to government and industry to improve the competitiveness of airfares and enhance service reliability,” Senator McKenzie said.

“And if he won’t act on this, we will.”

“This is what this Bill is all about.”

“The Prime Minister and his ministers have provided 9, often conflicting, reasons as to why they blocked Qatar Airways’ request.”

“The question remains, why don’t the Albanese Government want to provide cheaper airfares for the travelling public in a cost-of-living crisis?”

Senator McKenzie also highlighted the Labor Government’s Aviation Green Paper, which called Australia’s aviation sector “highly concentrated”, a direct contradiction to the Prime Minister’s earlier statements where he stated, “we have the most competitive aviation market in the world, bar none.”