One year after Member for Traeger and Katter’s Australian Party Leader Robbie Katter MP demanded action on the divisive and wasteful government-funded school charter flight system, locals are reporting no change.
Mr Katter said the decision to limit government-funded charter flights exclusively to Indigenous ABSTUDY students, while handing the contract to an offshore operator and broker, left students stranded and local businesses stripped of work.
Over the past 12 months, planes had been booked unnecessarily, with one aircraft reportedly flying from Brisbane to Horn Island with no passengers to collect, incurring a public bill of $100,000.
Mr Katter said the model, which reportedly charged almost triple a regular fare for an ABSTUDY seat, was a costly rort.
He said it didn’t represent an Indigenous problem, but a remote living problem.
“Rural and remote families are being denied a critical travel option to get their kids home for the holidays when roads are flooded, experienced local operators who know the people, the land and the unique flying conditions are being ignored, and taxpayers are being gouged,” Mr Katter said.
The Lord family from Normanton was still forced to get their son home from boarding school on exorbitant and unreliable commercial flights or embark on a nine-hour road trip one way, navigating flooded roads.
Derek Lord previously told Robbie Katter that he’d regularly see the 20-seat government-chartered planes arriving at the Normanton airport with fewer than 10 passengers, while his sons were turned away as they were not ABSTUDY recipients.
At one stage, there were 17 students enrolled in boarding school from the Normanton Karumba region alone. In the March/April school holidays this year, five local children were left stranded with no travel option to get to school.
Derek’s wife Tracy said she had tried to pay for seats on the charter flights but was met with a “stagnant” response from the travel company.
“They didn’t get it,” she said.
“Why can’t the travel company work out what it would cost for a seat … it would be a lot easier and quicker for everyone if the (non-ABSTUDY) students could fly.”
Ms Lord said the Government should put its money where its mouth was.
“To use their words: every child has the right to an education, and to be safe.”
The situation was further exacerbated by the Government’s decision to replace long-time local provider Voluntair, and local brokers, and hand the contract to a UK-based operator and offshore broker.
General Manager of Air Charter Specialists Michael Thinee said the Government’s continued reliance on an offshore broker instead of three Cairns-based brokers with extensive experience and knowledge of the regional aviation market was hard to justify.
“It raises legitimate questions about why capable local businesses have not been given the opportunity to compete for this work or submit quotations, particularly where they possess the expertise and local knowledge to deliver safe, efficient, and responsive charter services,” he said.
Robbie Katter wrote to the Minister for Social Services in June 2025 strongly urging her to expand charter flight access to non-Indigenous students, reinstate local contracts, and review the model.
Minister Plibersek provided a lukewarm response but did commit to working on ABSTUDY travel policies to ensure the best outcomes for all students in very remote areas.
Robbie Katter’s office was working with Bob Katter’s office to demand action from Minister Plibersek.
