‘Long time coming’: Federal government to release aviation white paper

Shadow Finance Minister Jane Hume says the federal government’s aviation white paper has been a “long time coming”. The details of the federal government’s aviation white paper will be released on Monday. An aviation industry ombudsman will be introduced to enforce customer rights, including prompt refunds. “This has been a long time coming, this white paper,” Ms Hume told Sky News Australia. “Over a year ago now, both Qantas and Virgin appeared before my cost of living inquiry. “We knew that the airlines were in crisis back then, that there was a lack of competition, and that there were government decisions at that stage, particularly about Qatar and additional slots at Sydney Airport that were artificially inflating airline prices, so it’s taken a long time.”