FOR PRESS AIR-LINES DISPUTE
Statement by the Prime Ministter t. he J nHo. Sir Robert Menzies
As certain legal aspects of the current air-lines
dispute in New South Wales are before the Court, I will
confine myself to the political differences. Commonwealth
Ministers have met State Ministers in an attempt to secure
agreement. By courtesy of the Premier, I have had a conference
with the Commonwealth Attorney-General and the State Attorney-
General, in order to clarify my own mind as to the nature of
certain differences of interpretation of the judgments in the
recent air-lines case.
In the result, and after Cabinet discussion, I now
state the attitude of the Commonwealth Government.
Vle think that our first duty is to ensure the
safety, efficiency, and regularity of air navigation as a whole
in Australia. le do not think that this duty can be performed
by looking at one service in isolation, as if no adjoining
or intersecting services existed. If effective control of
air navigation and i high record of safety are to be maintained
in relation to a complex of international, interstate and
intra-state flying services, we be. l. ieve that it would be
completely unsound to look at each type of service separately,
as if the others did not exist, or to deal with individual
services within one of these classifications as if other
individual services did not exist. In the public interest,
there must be somre overall pattern and regulation.
; e think that this is true in relation to New South
Wales intra-state services, which have as one terminal the
Kingsford Smith Airport at Miascot, which is also the principal
airport for international services and a main airport for
inter-state services.
The paramount interest to be served by the New
South sales intra-state air services is that of the people
in the country and in provincial cities and tons. Each of
the two competing intra-state services, Ezst-West Airlines and
Airlines of has played its part in serving that
paramount interest. '! hatever re-arrangement of routes may
be made from time to time should be so made, within the limits
of safety and efficiency, as to enable each to carry on
profitably and thereby maintain its operational efficiency.
To solve the proolem, we beiieve that a completely
objective and co-operative approach is essential.
To this end, we have proposed that a Commonwealth
expert and a State expert should confer with each other, with
a right in them to appoint an umpire in case of differences
of opinion. The object of the conference would be to survey / 2
2-
and allocate various routes and services, and to bring in
recommendations to both Commonv. realth and State Governments.
For our part, we will stand ready to accept these recommendations,
As every facility would be provided for speedy investigation
and conference, we should be able to anticipate a result within
two months. The Government of New South iales has, as I
understand it, not rejected the conference idea outright but
makes acceptance of it conditional upon East-Mest flying a
service between Sydney and Dubbo meanwhile. This the Commonwealth
is not able to grant. For its part the Commonwealth
would prefer that pre-existing arrangements should be restored.
This would mean that over the projected period of the
conference, Airlines of New South ales,-the holder of the
Commonwealth licence for the route, would fly a direct service
between Sidney and Dubbo as it has ( until recently) done for
many years. The Government of New South Jales has been reported
as wishing us to agree to a proposition that, in the meantime,
each of the two co-mpanies should take turn, month and month
about, in conducting the Dubbo service.
Our advice is that this is not practicable, since
the movement in and out of staffs and facilities involved
would be grossly expensive and wasteful, and could scarcely
be regarded as giving effective results to the people of
Dubbo, who are primarily concerned.
Under these circumstances, we cannot accept this
proposal. But we repeat our own, and hope that, in the
interests of all concerned, it will be accepted and acted
upon with all expedition.
CANBERiA,
4th April, 1965.