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News.com.au
24-06-2025
- Politics
- News.com.au
Children in remote communities denied seats on near-empty ‘Indigenous-only' charter flights
The Albanese government will review charter flight arrangements for students living in remote outback communities after claims non-Indigenous students were prevented from boarding planes because they were not ABSTUDY recipients. Derek Lord, a father of two boys living in the far north west Queensland town of Normanton about five hours north of Mt Isa and eight hours west of Cairns in the Gulf of Carpentaria, said his sons faced a 'six-day ordeal' to get home after they were not allowed to purchase seats on a nearly empty, taxpayer-funded flight. Mr Lord, who is the Air Traffic Services Reporting Officer at the tiny Normanton Airport, said he regularly sees 20-seat planes arriving with fewer than half the seats occupied. But he claims his two sons, who board at school in Charters Towers, 90 minutes southwest of Townsville, have been turned away from those same flights because they're not ABSTUDY recipients. 'My boys have been left sitting at the airport, bags packed, because they weren't allowed on a plane with empty seats,' Mr Lord said in a statement via Katter's Australian Party (KAP) Leader and Member for Traeger, Robbie Katter. 'We'd gladly pay for those seats — anything to avoid the six-day ordeal we have to go through with commercial flights to get them home for the holidays when roads were cut off due to flooding.' ABSTUDY, introduced in 1969, is a federal government scheme for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people that offers education-related financial assistance, including course fees and travel costs for students who study away from home. Mr Katter has slammed the new school charter flight arrangement as fundamentally flawed and unfair, describing it as a system that fosters division and fails to meet the needs of remote communities. 'This is not an Indigenous problem. It's a remote living problem,' Mr Katter said. 'When you've got families living in the same town, sending their kids to the same school, but being treated differently — that's wrong. It risks creating division in communities where it doesn't exist.' Mr Katter said the situation had been made worse by the government's decision to hand the contract to a UK-based operator with no local experience, replacing long-time provider Volantair. 'We had a capable, locally based operator with 20 years' experience and regional knowledge,' he said. 'Now we've got a foreign company charging up to $1781 per ABSTUDY seat — almost triple what a regular flight costs — and delivering a shambolic service.' The new operator, Air Charter Services, was appointed last year by Corporate Travel Management (CTM), which is responsible for the ABSTUDY charter contract. Air Charter Services and CTM have been contacted for comment. Since the change, according to Mr Katter, planes had shown up without passengers to collect, flights had gone unused, and single-engine aircraft without weather radar had been deployed into some of Queensland's toughest flying conditions. 'Kids are being left stranded, rural and remote families are being ignored,' Mr Katter said. 'It's time these services were made available to any child living remotely — not just those eligible under a narrow government program — and returned to experienced local operators who know the land, know the people, and care about the outcomes.' Speaking to 2GB's Ben Fordham on Tuesday, Mr Lord said he had even tried paying for seats on the planes but his sons were denied 'because they don't fall under ABSTUDY'. 'The carrier even agreed to take our money but the booking company that now does it, which is overseas, refused to allow our children to get on because they don't meet the criteria,' he said. 'We don't understand it either. It's taxpayer-funded. Even if we weren't willing to pay, the plane is coming here, it's being paid for by everyone's taxes whether you're Indigenous or non-Indigenous, the kids are from the same town.' Mr Lord noted 'we're in the middle of a flood crisis and we couldn't get in our out', recounting the tortuous journey home for his sons. 'So there was no way to get our kids home unless it's on a private charter ourselves, or through Rex, and Rex can be up to two, three weeks waiting for a seat,' he said. 'We would have to bus them down to Townsville and then either bus them or plane them up to Cairns, and then they'd have to sit in Cairns over the weekend because there's no Rex flights, and then they'd have to fly home on Rex if we could get a Monday or Tuesday flight, and that's a big if.' He said 'even Indigenous leaders here don't understand it'. 'I don't think it's about reconciliation, I think it's more about that the system is broken,' he said. 'The gap is not a gap between Indigenous and non-Indigenous per se, it's regional versus non-regional. If you actually compared the two I think you'd find many of the non-Indigenous kids and families have the same disadvantages as Indigenous people in rural or remote communities.' Mr Lord added that son's girlfriend was Indigenous and 'the first time this happened, she got on one flight and he had to get on the other'. Fordham said it was 'absolutely mad'. 'Just put the kids on the same damn plane,' he said. A spokeswoman for Social Services Minister Tanya Plibersek told the matter was being reviewed. 'The ABSTUDY program was introduced in 1969 by Liberal National Prime Minister John Gorton to help Indigenous students from very remote communities get access to education,' she said. 'Charter flights are only used where it is the cheapest or most cost effective alternative, from very remote communities. The allocation of spare seats is a matter for the charter company. The government agrees that empty seats should be made available for other students or community members to purchase where safe and practical to do so. The Minister will request updated advice from her department on this issue to ensure charter fees reflect value for money.' The Department of Finance, which manages all the whole of Australian government travel contract, has previously clarified that CTM has no exclusive agreements with charter companies and will choose charter providers for the ABSTUDY program based on the needs of ABSTUDY travellers. 'CTM has encouraged competition through the expansion of charters available to be booked for the government, including the ABSTUDY program,' a spokeswoman for the department told Cairns Post last year. 'They have also recently included an additional 12 new charter service providers to the program, including two Indigenous businesses.'
Sky News AU
11-06-2025
- Politics
- Sky News AU
Wild quarrel over Queensland croc culling bill emerges as Bob Irwin Snr unleashes on maverick politician Bob Katter
A fierce debate over a controversial Queensland crocodile culling bill is heating up, with Bob Irwin Snr not holding back about his feelings towards federal politician Bob Katter. The Crocodile Control and Conservation Bill 2025 introduced to Queensland's parliament by Katter's Australian Party (KAP) in February would legalise the culling of crocodiles in the state. Debate over the proposed legislation has now boiled over, with Mr Katter and KAP now publicly trading jabs with the Irwin family following a lengthy submission on the bill by Australia Zoo. The father of Australian conservationist icon Steve Irwin has told The Courier Mail he thinks Mr Katter is 'a d***head', telling the masthead to 'put it on record'. '....and you can actually tell him who said it as well,' Mr Irwin said on Wednesday. 'He's not listening to the people that know, he has no idea of how the environment works, and that's his problem.' The heated comments from the 86-year-old came after he appeared at Queensland's parliament for a hearing regarding crocodile management, according to the masthead. The Australia Zoo founder's daughter-in-law Terri Irwin has spoken out about the culling proposal, calling the bill "lazy and sloppy" in a submission on the bill. She claimed the legislation would increase the likelihood of crocodile attacks on people, and slammed the proposal as being an attempt to 'recycle old draft legislation'. Mr Katter last week hit back at Ms Irwin for her criticism of his party's bill, calling out Australia Zoo for keeping the reptiles in captivity. 'She knows all about it, well I'm a bit fascinated by that. How would you know about crocodiles if you live in Brisbane?,' the federal member for Kennedy said in a video posted on social media. 'Oh that's right, she's got them all locked up in a cage in Brisbane, I'd forgotten about that.' The maverick politician's son and KAP leader Robbie Katter took to social media on Wednesday to address Ms Irwin over the remarks detailed in the submission. 'You make money out of crocodiles by keeping them in cages. I don't know what qualifies you to give advice on the way we live up north,' the party leader said in a Facebook post. Earlier on Wednesday, a cartoon was posted on the KAP Facebook page that appeared to show Ms Irwin, the ghost of Steve Irwin, and a crocodile angrily staring at a KAP member holding a gun with 'Cull Plan' written on it.
Daily Mail
11-06-2025
- Politics
- Daily Mail
Steve Irwin's father delivers brutal message to Bob Katter as feud over crocodile cull boils over: 'He's not listening'
The father of Steve Irwin has joined his estranged family to slam Bob Katter and his calls to cull crocodiles. Bob Irwin Senior came out swinging on Wednesday to label the outspoken MP a 'd***head'. Katter's Australian Party (KAP) introduced the Crocodile Control and Conservation Bill 2025 in February to the Queensland Government. The aim of the proposed law is to 'eliminate crocodiles which pose a threat to human life' while protecting them from going extinct. The move has prompted outrage from the Irwin family with Bob the latest member to publicly share his opposition to it. 'He's not listening to the people that know. He has no idea of how the environment works and that's his problem,' the Australia Zoo founder told The Courier Mail. Bob had spoken at state parliament earlier in the day against the legislation. 'Steve and I have learnt from the word go that if you want to be successful with anything you want to do with crocodiles, you've got to get inside their head figuratively,' he said. 'So we spent a lot of time doing nothing else but observing what crocodiles do.' Bob added there have been previous situations where someone calls for the culling of crocodiles, but said people did not listen to researchers and scientists. Katter's son and KAP leader Robbie defended the bill while taking aim at the Irwin family. He claimed they were 'entertainers' with little understanding of regional communities' fears. He also told state parliament his father's knowledge came from speaking to his constituents in north Queensland. Although estranged from his son's wife and children, Bob's statements echoed that of Terri, who submitted a letter to the government criticising the proposed law. His daughter-in-law described the bill as 'more dangerous than previous efforts' to argue in favour of culling crocodile populations. 'It is such a lazy and sloppy attempt to recycle old draft legislation,' Terri said. In issuing her comments, Terri came under fire from Katter on Friday. 'How would you know all about crocodiles if you live in Brisbane?' he said in a video published to Facebook. 'Oh that's right, she's got them all locked up in a cage in Brisbane.' KAP MP for Hill Shane Knuth, who submitted the bill, joined the pile-on. 'The Irwin's built a multimillion dollar business off the back of crocodiles,' he wrote on social media. 'And now they're lecturing North Queenslanders on how to enjoy our recreational waterways while they're infested with crocs - and getting worse. 'Spare us the patronising 'Crocwise' slogans. We don't need a zoo telling us how to survive in our own backyard.' The Irwin family feud began 13 years ago when Bob quit Australia Zoo because he was concerned the wildlife park he'd founded in 1970 was becoming a 'circus'. Various reports from the time of Bob's exit claim he was worried the Sunshine Coast tourist attraction was becoming 'too commercial - and even feared a then nine-year-old Bindi was being pushed into child stardom. When Bob left the zoo for good in 2008 - two years after the death of his famous son - Terri was said to be planning a five-year expansion 'to make it Australia's peak tourist destination with a Disneyland feel'.
IOL News
10-06-2025
- Business
- IOL News
KAP flags lower annual earnings ahead amid challenging trading conditions
Unitrans completed a major organisational redesign in November 2024 Image: File KAP, the group with industrial, chemical and logistics divisions, on Tuesday warned that it expects lower earnings for 2025 amid challenging trading conditions. Earnings per share (eps) is expected to decrease by more than 30% for 2025, which is a decrease of at least 13.1 cents per share from 43.8 cents the prior comparative period. Headline earnings per share (heps) is expected to decrease by more than 30% for 2025, which is a decrease of at least 13.6 cents per share, when compared to the heps of 45.3 cents for the year ended June 30, 2024. In an update guidance on the company's operational performance for 11 months of the 2025 financial year up to May 31, 2025, compared with the prior comparative period, KAP said trading conditions have remained challenging, with sentiment further dampened by the uncertainty created by the delay in the approval of the national budget, the resultant instability of the Government of National Unity and the potential negative effects of the US's tariff war. Additionally, April was a particularly weak month due to the limited trading days. In this context, the group delivered a modest growth in revenue, a reduction in Ebitda, a decline in operating profit and meaningfully lower earnings during the period. KAP said it continues to make progress with the execution of its strategy, to realise value from the major capital projects; improve the financial performance of underperforming businesses, mostly Unitrans; and the reduction of net debt. Divisional performance: PG Bison successfully started and ramped up its new R2 billion MDF (Medium-density fiberboard) line in Mkhondo in the first half of 2025. Revenue was higher due to a 90% increase in MDF domestic and export sales volumes, primarily attributable to the higher MDF production. Particleboard sales volumes were stable. Operating profit declined as the depreciation and running costs of the new MDF line were absorbed during the period, with utilisation not yet optimal due to the ramp-up process. Video Player is loading. Play Video Play Unmute Current Time 0:00 / Duration -:- Loaded : 0% Stream Type LIVE Seek to live, currently behind live LIVE Remaining Time - 0:00 This is a modal window. Beginning of dialog window. Escape will cancel and close the window. Text Color White Black Red Green Blue Yellow Magenta Cyan Transparency Opaque Semi-Transparent Background Color Black White Red Green Blue Yellow Magenta Cyan Transparency Opaque Semi-Transparent Transparent Window Color Black White Red Green Blue Yellow Magenta Cyan Transparency Transparent Semi-Transparent Opaque Font Size 50% 75% 100% 125% 150% 175% 200% 300% 400% Text Edge Style None Raised Depressed Uniform Dropshadow Font Family Proportional Sans-Serif Monospace Sans-Serif Proportional Serif Monospace Serif Casual Script Small Caps Reset restore all settings to the default values Done Close Modal Dialog End of dialog window. Advertisement Video Player is loading. Play Video Play Unmute Current Time 0:00 / Duration -:- Loaded : 0% Stream Type LIVE Seek to live, currently behind live LIVE Remaining Time - 0:00 This is a modal window. Beginning of dialog window. Escape will cancel and close the window. Text Color White Black Red Green Blue Yellow Magenta Cyan Transparency Opaque Semi-Transparent Background Color Black White Red Green Blue Yellow Magenta Cyan Transparency Opaque Semi-Transparent Transparent Window Color Black White Red Green Blue Yellow Magenta Cyan Transparency Transparent Semi-Transparent Opaque Font Size 50% 75% 100% 125% 150% 175% 200% 300% 400% Text Edge Style None Raised Depressed Uniform Dropshadow Font Family Proportional Sans-Serif Monospace Sans-Serif Proportional Serif Monospace Serif Casual Script Small Caps Reset restore all settings to the default values Done Close Modal Dialog End of dialog window. Next Stay Close ✕ Safripol delivered an increase in revenue and operating profit, largely due to higher production and sales volumes. Unitrans completed a major organisational redesign in November 2024, which formed part of a deep restructuring focused on the cessation of low-margin, low-return activities, improved asset utilisation and reduced costs. Feltex encountered challenging trading conditions, mainly because of lower vehicle production, with two major OEM customers being meaningfully lower due to temporary operational constraints at their plants. Sleep Group increased revenue and operating profit, primarily due to growth in sales of bedding units, despite a subdued bedding and furniture market. Optix delivered lower revenue and operating profit, with suboptimal conversion of the sales pipeline. Balance sheet KAP said it has completed a major investment cycle, with all projects commissioned and operational. "The only remaining major capital commitment relates to improving the average fleet age of Unitrans' vehicles. This catch- up capital expenditure will be phased over three to five years and we therefore do not expect it to have a major impact in any single year," it said. "We invested in future growth, of which PG Bison's new MDF line is the largest and most recent investment. The line resulted in a 33% increase in the division's total production capacity and offers compelling growth opportunities for the group, it said. KAP said it was making good progress in addressing areas of underperformance, the most material of which relates to Unitrans, where an operating profit of R700 million is targeted over the medium term. Reducing net debt is also a priority.
Yahoo
09-06-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Fuming families battle against new McDonald's drive-thru plan 'targeting children'
Outraged parents and councillors are fighting plans for a 24/7 McDonald's drive-thru in Hove. A Hove Against McDonald's protest group is battling against the proposed site in Old Shoreham Road, Hove. Michelle Vogel, who lives just behind the proposed site, has been leading the campaign against the plans, saying that the fast-food company is 'targeting our children'. She told The Argus: 'The main reason we are all opposed is the proximity to all of our schools and all of our young people. The city already has a massive obesity problem. 'You've got Hove Park, Blatchington Mill, Goldstone and West Hove all less than 800 metres away. 'Holmes Avenue here is where there's a school run, so they all come up there. McDonald's know exactly what they're doing and who they're targeting. 'It's going to bring all of the school children down here to the main road, and they're all going to be littering and loitering here.' Residential houses can be seen in the back of the proposed site (Image: Ramy Abou-Setta / The Argus)The fast-food giant applied for a freestanding 24/7 drive-thru restaurant, a car park and the demolition of the existing buildings. The site was originally a Suzuki car dealership in 2004, which was then replaced by Kent Auto Panels (KAP). In a Brighton and Hove City Council Public Health response to the proposed development of the drive-thru, which recommended to reject the plans, it was revealed that the city has the highest number of fast-food outlets per head in the entire South East at 149 per 100,000 population. The report also highlighted that the proposed site is adjacent to the 'most deprived areas' within the city, with people in those areas having 'higher levels of obesity statistically'. It also stated that the proposed McDonald's would be within 800m of four large schools in the area, mentioned by Michelle, with other schools just outside the zone who could be 'influenced' to purchase from the establishment. Residents have also shared concerns about the increased traffic and the impact this will have on parking and the local area. A Hove Against McDonald's protest is set to take place on June 17 at 5.30pm outside the proposed site in Old Shoreham Road, Hove. Michelle added: 'It's not just the traffic of people coming into the drive-thru, it's going to be the Uber drivers. You can see how close people's houses are, the kind of noise and light pollution it will cause is just ridiculous. 'The idling cars going round the side and the smell as well, the potential for rats and vermin. 'It's just all a recipe for disaster; the lights alone are going to make our bedrooms light up like Oxford Street at Christmas. 'This is a quiet area, we never have too much trouble and too much noise – So having deliveries and mopeds all through the night, it's going to be really disruptive.' (Image: CB) The closest McDonald's drive-thrus for people in Brighton and Hove are currently the stores in Eastern Avenue, Shoreham, or Brighton Marina. Residents have also raised concerns that the McDonald's would be considerably close to the drive-thru Burger King in the Goldstone Retail Park which is also applying for a '24 hour' licence. Brighton and Hove City Councillors have added their voices in opposition to the proposed plans, with Cllr Jacob Allen, the now cabinet member for customer services and public realm, saying that the approval of the plans 'only serve to benefit a multinational corporation at the expense of the health and dietary wellbeing of children'. Left: Cllr John Hewitt shares concerns for the impact of littering on the Hove cemetery (Image: Ramy Abou-Setta / The Argus) Cllr John Hewitt, representing Hangleton and Knoll, shared his ward's frustrations and concerns with the plans. He told The Argus: 'This area is a real traffic hotspot getting in and out on to the Old Shoreham Road. 'One of my real concerns is it being a 24-7 operation. No other business on this estate operates like that. It will have a real detrimental effect to the residents who literally back onto the rear of the site.' When McDonald's was approached for comment, a spokeswoman said: 'We are excited about the opportunity to open a new restaurant in Hove, bringing significant investment and 120 new jobs to the local area. 'At McDonald's we strive to be a good neighbour in the communities in which we operate and we look forward to continuing to work with the local community and stakeholders to address any concerns they may have.'
