The Transport Minister says invasive body searches were a ‘factor’ in her decision on Qatar Airways; Calls for the federal government to stop approving new coal and gas projects; And in football, The Socceroos begin training ahead of their friendly match against Mexico.
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TRANSCRIPT
** The Transport Minister says invasive body searches were a ‘factor’ in her decision on Qatar Airways...
** Calls for the federal government to stop approving new coal and gas projects...
**The Socceroos begin training ahead of their friendly match against Mexico.
The federal government is taking steps towards reforming the aviation sector, releasing a new Aviation Green Paper today [[Sep 7]].
It outlines Australia's plan to grant foreign airlines permission to add extra capacity to flights, a move seeking to deliver a more competitive aviation sector to meet increasing demand.
Transport Minister Catherine King is seeking public and industry feedback on the new long-term strategy for the aviation sector.
Ms King says the Green Paper considers how to transition Australia’s aviation industry to net zero.
"We are, as I said, seeking to deliver a more competitive aviation sector, it covers issues of competition, it covers issues in relation to complaint handling processes, particularly when it comes to canvasing weather we do need a consumer bill of rights when it comes to aviation. It covers issues which have been at the forefront of my mind particularly around accessibility of Australians who have a disability"
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It comes as the federal government has been facing questions over it's decision to block Qatar Airways from adding additional flights into Australia.
The airline had requested adding 28 additional flights per week into the Australian international aviation market, but was rejected.
Transport Minister Catherine King has suggested an incident in 2020 where women were taken off a Qatar plane at gunpoint and subjected to invasive body searches inspired her decision.
It's been revealed five women who were subject to strip searches wrote to Minister King asking her not to let Qatar increase it's presence in Australia.
Liberal M-P Keith Pitt has criticised Ms King.
"Let's just look at reality. We've had two Labor ministers go out one who said you can't define the national interest. I'm pretty sure a high school kid could do that. And secondly, we saw another that said they had to protect the national carrier. Well how about we protect the Australian people, and we protect them from prices that they shouldn't have to pay, which are exorbitant. We've seen reports recently in the media, that in fact Qantas allegedly booked ghost flights, planes that would never take off. I think that is a disgrace."
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Religious community leaders are calling on faith communities to support the yes case in the upcoming Voice to Parliament referendum.
The National multi-faith alliance will launch a National Weekend of Prayer, Meditation and Reflection to encourage unity and respect in the lead up to the referendum.
The alliance brings together representatives from Australia’s major religions in support of reconciliation and empowerment of Indigenous voices.
Events including seminars and education sessions will be held at major religious institutions in all major cities over the weekend.
President of the Islamic Council of Victoria Adel Salman told ABC the Voice to Parliament offers a pathway to reconciliation and justice for First Nations people.
And you can find comprehensive information about the referendum visiting the SBS Voice Referendum portal at www.sbs.com.au/voicereferendum.
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Bushfire survivors are urging the Federal Government to stop approving new coal and gas projects until Australia's environmental laws are fixed.
Environmental Minister Tanya Plibersek says the current environmental laws are broken and is consulting with government on new regulations to fix them.
The minister says the new regulations will work towards delivering the governments promise of an Environmental Protection Agency.
Jo Dodds, the President and co-founder of Bushfire Survivors for Climate Action, says communities are exhausted and the approval of new fossil fuel projects will put more and more people at risk.
"Climate change means bushfires are getting hotter, less predictable and more destructive. That means everyone who's managed of their home burning down again. And that's an incredibly hard reality to face."
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In football,
The Socceroos have begun their training sessions on U-S soil ahead of next Monday's ((September 11)) friendly match against Mexico in Dallas.
Graham Arnold is not facing any injury issues and should have all his players at his disposal ahead of the game, which will serve as a great test for the 2024 Asian Cup and the 2026 World Cup qualifiers.
The Socceroos coach has called up several new faces to the team, such as Sam Silvera, Cameron Burgess and Ashley Maynard-Brewer.
Silvera says he's looking forward to the Mexican challenge.
"Yeah, it's exciting. It's really exciting. It's a top team as well that has a lot of great players and has had a lot of success but, again, the focus is here and I'm going to learn from the players that have been here, continuing on from the amazing couple of games they had at the World Cup and just want to continue that and hopefully add more to this team and then we'll go to Mexico and hopefully we'll go for the win."
