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Tax on air travel remains unlikely AUSTRALIA had already demonstrated the aviation industry could minimise greenhouse emissions in practical ways without a ticket tax, the Deputy Prime Minister and Minister for Transport and Regional Services, Mark Vaile, said recently on World Environment Day."Even though aviation contributes just 2 per cent of global C02 emissions, Airservices Australia in partnership with its airline customers, has shown that improving air traffic management can make an important contribution to reducing growth in greenhouse gas emissions," Mr Vaile said. "Contrary to recent calls from the left-wing think tank - the Australia Institute - for a new $30 tax on passengers, the Howard/Vaile Government is focusing on practical measures to reduce aviation greenhouse emissions and combat climate change. "In fact, the aviation industry has been working on minimising aircraft emissions for some time, internationally, through the International Civil Aviation Organization and regionally, with the APEC economies," Mr Vaile said. "Consistent with the commitment by the APEC Transportation Ministers at their meeting in Adelaide in March, we will continue to do all we can to assist the aviation industry minimise the growth of greenhouse gas emissions. "In Australia, Airservices Australia has led the way by identifying a range of flight program initiatives that specifically assist the industry to minimise its carbon footprint. "Some of the initiatives already showing significant returns concentrate on identifying efficiencies on the ground before departure. Others identify means of reducing fuel burn while in flight through better traffic management and taking greater advantage of weather conditions," he said. Mr Vaile said to improve our understanding of how aviation emissions could be reduced, Airservices Australia was partnering with the University of New South Wales to develop a computer model which quantified improvements made by advanced air traffic management techniques. "The Howard/Vaile Government, through agencies such as Airservices Australia, is determined to introduce new and more efficient practices that not only make flying more efficient, but build on aviation safety considerations which will always remain our main focus," Mr Vaile said. "Instead of measures like slugging Australian families with a $30 tax a move that would endanger the jobs of hundreds of thousands of Australians, disadvantage regional aviation and add to the cost of a family holiday we will continue to focus on practical greenhouse emission reduction initiatives." |
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