MINISTER FOR INFRASTRUCTURE, TRANSPORT, REGIONAL DEVELOPMENT AND LOCAL GOVERNMENT, CATHERINE KING: Today we've had a great announcement out of Western Sydney International Airport, with VietJet announcing that as of January, they will be flying twice a week to Ho Chi Minh City from Western Sydney and then in March three times a week, moving into a service into Bangkok in November 2027 as well. This is the fifth airline now out of Western Sydney International Airport. We're 76 days away from the first passenger flight to the Gold Coast Jetstar flight. Really excited to see the opening of Western Sydney International Airport in just 76 days’ time, and great to see these increased services coming out of Western Sydney, which will take Western City residents right the way around the country but also out to the world.

I've also met– just commenting on the delays and disruptions we've seen out of Sydney Airport over the course of Friday and Saturday, I understand the airport is operating under good conditions this morning, which is good to see. But it is fair to say that passengers, the airports, airline staff, and air traffic controllers really did bear the brunt of what was some very unfortunate circumstances over the course of the weekend. I've met this morning with the CEO of Airservices Australia. We've had a very constructive discussion about measures they are putting in place to ensure that there is better rostering at Sydney Airport, and they're dealing with some of the unplanned leave that they've had over the weekend.

I'm confident on speaking to Airservices Australia that they are doing everything they can to get on top of this. What happened over the weekend, they accept was unacceptable for passengers in particular. But I do want to give a shout out to the air traffic controllers who are dealing with a really stressful and difficult job. They did a very good job over the weekend to try and manage the disruptions as best they could. We want to make sure that they've got as much support as possible to do that really complex job. And that meeting today with Airservices Australia was an important step for me, assuring myself that what they are doing is the right thing by both the air traffic controllers but also the traveling public.

I'm very happy to take questions.

JOURNALIST: Did Airservices Australia stand down the two workers? Do you have any comment?

CATHERINE KING: So they were stood down temporarily, which is part of the protocols for mandatory alcohol and drug testing. I understand the air traffic controller that was for a period of 30 minutes, but obviously, that then took one person out of the tower for 30 minutes and then that had a flow-on effect as well.

What they need to do– so when there's a circumstance where they are down staff or there are a concentration of flights, what they do is they slow down the interaction between planes for a safety point of view. And so, anytime there's a change, that's what they had to do. And so that that's what happened. The tug operator and the air traffic controller were stood down as part of the mandatory protocols, but that was for a short period of time. But that did have some flow-on effects on the day.

JOURNALIST: People do get sick in winter.

CATHERINE KING: Yes.

JOURNALIST: So, is this just going to be an ongoing concern if they can't get a bigger workforce?

CATHERINE KING: Yeah, look, there's a mixture of things happening. Of course, we do– we are in winter flu season. People do get sick. But obviously, we plan for those things as well. Sydney is the most complex airspace that we've got, and the air traffic controllers there, they are amazing. It is a– if you've been in an air traffic control tower, you've seen the number of flights that they're managing. The complexity is in how quickly they have to be. It's a really specialised job and they do an amazing job, but they do get sick. They do get tired. We need to make sure they are safe as possible.

So what we've been trying to do is really build and rebuild a robust workforce. It's why we recruited 91 new air traffic controllers. We've been taking them from other countries as well. We've got 95 this year. I think there are six in the pipeline for training for Sydney Airport as well. So all of that are the things and measures we need to put in place to try and make sure this system stays robust. But of course, there are unplanned sicknesses and things that happen in any workforce. Our primary objective is to keep planes in the sky, keep them safe in the sky, but also support our air traffic controllers at the same time.

JOURNALIST: From memory, there was a recent financing deal that fell over. Does Airservices Australia have enough money to hire these people and keep [indistinct]?

CATHERINE KING: So in the most recent Budget, we injected some further funds into Airservices Australia. It's a cost recovered agency based on it’s obviously a cost of doing business for airlines and airports. There was– there is a long-term issue in terms of the replacement of firefighting assets at airports. We've got to look at that. That's about $1.7 billion to replace all our fire trucks, and we've got ongoing discussions with Airservices Australia about how to do that and that's a separate issue to the air traffic control towers and the air traffic controllers.

JOURNALIST: Both of these incidents could have been much worse. People could have died. Are you confident that fixing the staffing issue means this won't happen? Do you have any other concerns about competency?

CATHERINE KING: So I think the first thing to say is that the Australian Transport Safety Bureau will undertake their independent investigation into both of those incidents that have occurred. There are incidents that do occur at airports all the time across the country. These two instances are very serious incidents because it involved the close proximity of aircraft, which is not something anybody wants to see. The ATSB needs to be allowed to do its investigation. Airservices will cooperate fully with that investigation. If there are any issues, any issues at all involving – in terms of staff fatigue, tiredness, all of that that are contributing factors, that will be part of the ATSB report and we will act on those.

JOURNALIST: Minister, Angus Taylor is seeking or demanding an apology from the Prime Minister over the comments he made about Japan’s PM. Should Anthony Albanese apologise?

CATHERINE KING: Well, I think this has been– the PM appeared on a satirical podcast. The podcaster made some comments, and there are people trying to blow that up. I've got zero interest in that…

JOURNALIST: [Indistinct]

CATHERINE KING: … I’ve got zero interest in Angus Taylor’s [indistinct] attempt to conflate that. I haven't seen the podcast, but it's a satirical podcast. The podcaster made some comments.

JOURNALIST: On a related topic, Georgia Tree in Western Australia, a candidate in a by-election, says there is a culture of sexual harassment in your Party. Do you think– she's made those comments in the past. Do you think there is any validity there?

CATHERINE KING: I've been a member of the Australian Labor Party since I was 24, and I've been a member of Parliament for over 25 years now. I think there – of course, in any workplace, there are challenges that we all deal with. We've had a really significant inquiry initiated by this government frankly to make sure that people are safe in workplaces. That's the initiatives we've put in place, and I feel very comfortable in this workplace. It’s something that I work in and my staff work in as well.

JOURNALIST: Minister, Katy Gallagher has referred a letter to you from the Canberra Liberals asking for an independent audit of infrastructure projects that the Federal Government has funded in the ACT given the corruption findings around Campbell High School. Are you going to follow that up or so?

CATHERINE KING: We've already made some comments, I think, in the media, in a request about that. In the Federated Funding Agreement that the Commonwealth has with each state and territory, in the update to that in 2024, I have put measures in place that were not there before, measures in place that require states and territories to report to me if there are any incidences of criminal activity on federally funded projects. I am– again, we receive those reports regularly. They've been reported in Senate estimates, and I am very confident that the systems we have in place and the requirements that are in place under those federated agreements are the right ones.

JOURNALIST: So are you confident that there's no corruption in –

CATHERINE KING: I'm confident that the reports that I get from the ACT Government in relation to federally funded infrastructure projects comply with the FFA as they are required to do.

JOURNALIST: Just a follow up. Why would the ACT Government [indistinct] Suburban Rail Loop in Melbourne given what's going on?

CATHERINE KING: So two questions there. Again, Federated Funding Agreement require– it places requirements on states and territories for federally funded infrastructure projects to report where there have been incidences of criminal activity, where there have been reports to them as well. And I'm confident we are continuing to build that system, but I'm confident that that is working as it should do.

In relation to the Suburban Rail Loop, obviously decisions of the new incoming Premier will be decisions for them. I continue to have a really constructive working relationship with the Victorian Government. We have committed already $2.2 billion, that is now flowing to the Suburban Rail Loop project. We have announced a further additional over $3 billion for that project. That is what the money is to go towards, the milestones of the building of that project. Any subsequent decisions about that really are a matter for the Victorian Government and we'll work with them on that.

What I am proud of is the huge investments we are making in Victoria. We are building terrific infrastructure in Victoria, and that includes significant project progress on Melbourne Airport Rail. We're building the Sunshine Hub, $4 billion of that project to untangle the rail lines there. There is room for projects in the east, projects in the west to build the state of Victoria.

JOURNALIST: On the Western Sydney Airport.

CATHERINE KING: Yeah.

JOURNALIST: I just– as you said, 70-something days until it opens.

CATHERINE KING: Yeah.

JOURNALIST: When people go and use that they pay the same inflated rip-off prices for food and parking that they have to pay at Kingsford Smith? It's a fair question. That was one of the complaints.

CATHERINE KING: That is a loaded question there, Matthew. Thank you very much for that question.

JOURNALIST: Well, I remember the debate at the time. That was one of the problems.

CATHERINE KING: Yeah, so you've been around a long time in this space - longer than me, Matthew. Issues in terms of tenancies, pricing, are probably best directed to the airport itself. It will be responsible…

JOURNALIST: So, you had a greenfield site and you didn't put any conditions on it.

CATHERINE KING: They'll be responsible for the lease arrangements and all of those things, as is normal at those airports. So, I think they're probably best directed to Western Sydney Airport.

JOURNALIST: Many years since we've built a new airport on a greenfield site and the government had an opportunity to impose some conditions.

CATHERINE KING: And it's a fabulous thing that we'll be opening that airport in October 25 to passengers. And I'm sure we'll all look forward to being there on the day. I think there's a community barbecue on the Sunday beforehand, and I really hope you come.

JOURNALIST: Regarding the Inland Rail, Minister, north of Narromine, did you seek advice from Infrastructure Australia about the decision to cancel the project? If so, what was their advice?

CATHERINE KING: So, in terms of the decision that the government made, Cabinet decision we made as part of the budget process, the advice that we had very firmly from Inland Rail itself and from my department was that this project was now going to cost over $45 billion. It was simply not affordable to continue the project in the form that it took.

We took the decision based on a review that we undertook when we first came into government to really get a return on investment in this project as soon as we could. To build it to Parkes that allows the east-west connection, allows Newcastle, allows the Port of Botany to be connected as well.

The decision– obviously, there was a decision made by previous governments about the amount of money in the envelope that was available for this project. This project, frankly, has been one that the National Party should hang their heads in shame on. To start a project without knowing where it was going to start, where it was going to finish, to not have planning approvals, to not have environmental approvals, yet to just keep ploughing money into it, was simply not viable.

I understand there are communities who are upset by that decision, but it was the responsible decision for me to take.

JOURNALIST: Infrastructure Australia though, is your independent infrastructure advisor.

CATHERINE KING: They are one of the advisors to me.

JOURNALIST: Did you seek advice from them?

CATHERINE KING: Infrastructure Australia provides advice to me at budget time on investment decisions.

JOURNALIST: Can I take you air traffic control?

CATHERINE KING: Yes, you can.

JOURNALIST: What capacity do you have if Airservices Australia can't meet the commitments they've provided to you about staffing in September? Do passengers just have to expect that these rolling issues could be around for some time?

CATHERINE KING: Well, I think the first thing we should note is that air traffic control and Airservices, there's actually been a significant improvement, particularly over the course of the last 12 months. So, I think their data around delays caused by air traffic control has been reducing, but they actually have been improving. We've seen, obviously, some unexpected circumstances over the course of the last few days where there has been an increase in the number of unplanned leave requests, and that's what's happened over the course of the weekend.

But overall, we've actually been improving Airservices, so that is a good thing. They have a statement of expectations with me as Minister. I can obviously issue them with directions if I need to do that - we're not at that stage yet, but the statement of expectations is very clear about their long-term improvement of services, and that is what they've been doing.

JOURNALIST: What kind of directions can you issue?

CATHERINE KING: So again, what I'd say is that they have been improving their services, and I'm pleased to see them do that. I think the recruitment activity that they have undertaken over the course of the last two years in particular has been significant. The fact that we've got 91 new air traffic controllers in the system, 95 coming on board this year, really aggressively recruiting and retaining staff as well. They're also doing a lot of work to try and make sure that their staff are safe and looked after. Because it is such a specialist role and a complex role, and we want those staff who do an amazing job to really be looked after. And we're looking at whether there are other things they need to put in place, so like upgrading some facilities, better breaks, all of those things they're looking to put in place.

JOURNALIST: Minister, you seemed to acknowledge earlier that, in relation to that podcast, at the very least the podcaster made some crass remark about the Japanese Prime Minister. The Australian Prime Minister seemed, at the very least, to play along with it. Should he have done that?

CATHERINE KING: Look, again, it's a satirical podcast. I've got not a great deal of interest in it, to be quite honest. It's a satirical podcast. The podcaster made some comments. Really, I think we should just move on.

JOURNALIST: Minister, about Airservices.

CATHERINE KING: Yes.

JOURNALIST: It's been described as a chokehold of the aviation industry. Does it need new management?

CATHERINE KING: I think that– I don't know who's described it as that, and I think that would be a very unfortunate description if someone has described it as such. Aviation is incredibly complex. There are a range of reasons that, you know, flights are late. Flights are late for a range of reasons – staffing issues at airlines, airports themselves, baggage handling, a whole range of things happen at airports.

Air traffic control delays are a very small proportion, in fact, of the overall delays that occur at our airports. So, I think that description is unfair and unnecessary. But we are also not shying away from the fact there's been an issue over the weekend that needed to be dealt with. We need to do better, and Airservices needs to do better. But they are one part of a very complex system.

JOURNALIST: Is it concerning to you that we are having a conversation about whether Airservices is adequately staffed 76 days before the opening of the new airport?

CATHERINE KING: I think that this issue around Airservices staffing goes back a long way. The fact that we had post– during COVID, instead of actually keeping these incredible staff on board we had the previous government decide to offer early redundancy. Now it did that and we lost a large number of air traffic controllers from our system. Now that happened worldwide and so a lot of them just retired. We've had this view that– you know, we saw aviation surge back really quickly after COVID. I think we all thought there'd be sort of some gradual demand, but it just absolutely gangbusters. So we've all been trying to catch up as a result.

I'm proud of the work that Airservices has done to recruit more air traffic controllers. I'm proud of the work that they're doing to support their air traffic controllers. But we've acknowledged that over the weekend they were not optimal circumstances, they were unusual circumstances, and that they need to do better.

JOURNALIST: Airlines have complained that they're the ones footing the bill for the delay caused by shortages of air traffic controllers. Should Airservices Australia help foot the bill somewhere? Do they have to face financial consequences for not [indistinct]…

CATHERINE KING: Obviously, air traffic control is part of the costs of doing business for airlines and airports and it's a cost-recovery agency. The primary focus of air traffic control, of our CASA, is safety. It’s to make sure that all of our passengers are safe. And they have to make decisions, if their operating environments change because they've had someone not able to attend to work, their primary concern has to be that we are safe. And that does sometimes cause delays.

What we're trying to do is say, we don't want that to happen, we've got to do everything we can so that we're not causing those delays. But we shouldn't be apologising for the fact that they are trying to keep people safe. That's what we all want in our aviation system, airlines and airports as well.

I’m going to have to go to Caucus, so I’m already running late for that. But thank you for coming out at such short notice. Thank you.