How are students living remotely supposed to get a fair shot when under-booked, taxpayer-funded charter flights meant to help them are instead fostering division?
At a Glance
- Queensland MP Robbie Katter slams government-funded school charter flights as “divisive and dysfunctional.”
- The flights, restricted to students receiving the Indigenous-specific ABSTUDY grant, often fly nearly empty.
- Non-Indigenous students from the same remote towns are barred from purchasing seats on the taxpayer-funded planes.
- A new UK-based operator is accused of “shambolic service” and charging nearly triple the regular cost per seat.
- The federal government has launched a review into the arrangements following public outcry.
A Divisive and Dysfunctional System
A government-funded charter flight system designed to transport students from remote parts of North Queensland to boarding schools is under fire for leaving children stranded and creating racial division. Katter’s Australian Party Leader and state MP Robbie Katter has slammed the arrangement, which restricts access to the flights exclusively to students eligible for ABSTUDY, a federal grant for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander students.
This policy means that non-Indigenous children living in the same remote towns and attending the same schools cannot purchase tickets on the flights, even when they are nearly empty. “This is not an Indigenous problem. It’s a remote living problem,” Katter said in a statement on his party’s website. “When you’ve got families living in the same town, sending their kids to the same school, but being treated differently—that’s wrong.”
Families Left Stranded
The absurdity of the policy was highlighted by the recent experience of Normanton resident Derek Lord, whose two sons were left stranded for six days while trying to return home from school in Cairns. Lord was unable to purchase seats for his sons on the taxpayer-funded charter flight, despite it having ample space, because his children are 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.
This bureaucratic nightmare is the result of a new contract awarded by the National Indigenous Australians Agency (NIAA). The contract was given to a UK-based company, Falko, replacing a local operator with 20 years of experience. Katter has decried the new operator for providing a “shambolic service” at an exorbitant cost. “Now we’ve got a foreign company charging up to $1157 per ABSTUDY seat—almost triple what a regular flight costs,” he told the New York Post.
A Call for Common Sense
Following significant public pressure and media attention, the federal government has confirmed it is reviewing the flawed charter flight arrangements. Katter is calling for a simple, common-sense solution.
“Kids are being left stranded, and rural and remote families are being ignored,” Katter stated. “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.” The hope is that the review leads to practical changes before the divisive policy further harms the very communities it is supposed to serve.
