On Monday night I attended the opening night of the LGAQ conference in Brisbane.
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Normally that would not be something I would attend however this time it was the presentation of the annual Bean, Lockyer, Ticehurst media award to which I had been nominated as a finalist.
I was nominated for my body of work about the high cost of air fares to the regions something I hoped was omen as the theme of this year’s conference was “onwards and upwards”.
I have to say I was absolutely delighted to hear my name called out as this year’s winner. For starters there is a $15,000 cash prize with the award which is great. But more importantly I hoped my win would help keep this important issue in the wider public eye.
I told the audience we had polled our readers and air fares was the single most important issue for those living in our region.
Yet I had some reservations about following through as I wondered if this was just a tax on living remotely and perhaps something we just needed to put up with.
But as I looked into this further it became clear this was not about people like me who travel because they want to, but about the many in our region who travel because they have to.
For these people who travel for health, education or family reasons, expensive flights is not a mere inconvenience, it is a matter of a lack of equity.
I told the LGAQ that we pay lip service to the notion of Northern Australia and maybe throw some money at projects via the NAIF. But we pay little or no attention to the social issues of living in the north and the associated costs.
If we are serious about wanting to have long-term sustainability of our region, this is an issue that must be addressed.
And if the private market can’t or won’t support more equitable arrangements for those that live and work here, governments must step in.
I would like to see the market opened up to other players, whether airlines or charters or even private pilots – as long as safety is not compromised.
A serious disruption of the industry is the only way to remove cosy duopolies – Derek Barry