Eminent Brisbane opthalmolagist Bill Glasson has warned that the prohibitive cost of flying between western Queensland and the state’s capital will see services disappear and people leaving.
Dr Glasson was speaking after becoming the latest victim of a Qantas fare pricing policy that saw him fork out almost $1000 to attend the funeral of a friend in Longreach last week.
“It cost me $960 return. I could fly more than halfway to London for that,” he said. “I was really cheesed off, for the people of the bush. They make a commitment to live there and we need to encourage them to, but this cost is really incapacitating.”
The imposition on western air travellers and those visiting them was documented by Gregory MP Lachlan Millar in state parliament last November, where he said the price schedule bore no connection to peoples’ needs nor did it reflect traffic patterns.
People can pay as much to travel between Brisbane and Longreach as they pay to travel across the Tasman to Auckland in New Zealand.
“Brisbane is a key centre for people living in the central west,” he said.
“It is usually where our medical evacuations are sent and so loved ones will often follow family members, at their own expense, so they can be there to support them.
“People also need to travel to Brisbane regularly for business, education, banking and legal matters and they are understandably fed up with the costs and lack of transparency in pricing structures.”
Mr Glasson was one of those fed up, saying that Qantas had a monopoly on the route, and with that came a responsibility not to take advantage of people.
“There’s no monopoly at Emerald and fares are half what they are from Longreach.
“It’s time that the government and Qantas looked at this.”
Because flights are so much cheaper from Emerald, central west residents have begun driving the four or so hours east to catch flights from that airport, finding that even with paying carpark fees and the cost of fuel, it is cheaper than flying out of Longreach.
As a consequence, people are doing more of their shopping in the Central Highlands community, another element of concern to Mr Millar.
“The flow-on effect is money spent out of our towns,” he said.
Mr Glasson said he’d been born in the west and provided a service there but he could see that disincentives like very expensive travel would discourage people such as himself from offering services to the bush.
Mr Millar has been calling on the deputy Premier and minister for transport, Jackie Trad, to investigate the issue.
Requests for a response from her office have been redirected to Translink.
All Translink has been prepared to say is that the Queensland government only regulates the maximum fare that airlines can charge on regulated routes.
A “refresh” of the 2013 Long Distance Passenger Services Review, being undertaken by the department of transport is expected to be completed mid-year, and will be assessing existing service levels and whether previously deregulated routes should be evaluated for regulation.
Air routes to rural and remote locations where air services would otherwise be commercially unviable are regulated by the state government.
Sally Gall
Based at Blackall, CW Qld, where I've raised a family, run Merino sheep and beef cattle, and helped develop a region - its history, tourism, education and communications. Get in touch at 0427 575 955 if you've got a story idea for me.
Based at Blackall, CW Qld, where I've raised a family, run Merino sheep and beef cattle, and helped develop a region - its history, tourism, education and communications. Get in touch at 0427 575 955 if you've got a story idea for me.
