Portfolio — 1 April 2026

1 April was one of the most legislatively active days the Minister for Infrastructure, Transport, Regional Development and Local Government, Ms King, has had in the current parliament. She introduced four linked bills to create a new aviation consumer protection regime, announced a $107 million road safety funding round, marked a major construction milestone on South Australia's $15.4 billion north–south motorway corridor, and defended the government's fuel-crisis response at question time — all on the same sitting day.

The aviation consumer protection package is the centrepiece. The Minister introduced it in the House as "the most significant reform any government has introduced for aviation consumer protection in Australia" [TA-260401-house-6ae0f5f9fd41:s018]. The package rests on four new mechanisms: an independent Aviation Consumer Ombudsperson to resolve individual complaints against airlines and airports through investigation and binding determination; an Aviation Consumer Protections Charter setting enforceable minimum service standards; an Aviation Consumer Protection Authority housed within the Department of Infrastructure to pursue systemic compliance failures and conduct public advocacy; and an independent Aircraft Noise Ombudsperson established as a statutory office [TA-260401-infras-f0ceefa6fd5a].

The Ombudsperson and the Authority are designed as complementary — the former handles individual disputes, the latter systemic ones. The Minister grounded the case for reform in failures of the voluntary Airline Customer Advocate: over a quarter of domestic flights were delayed in December 2025, one in two Australian travellers experienced a disruption between August 2024 and August 2025, and only a third were satisfied with how their disruption was handled [TA-260401-house-6ae0f5f9fd41:s018].

The Middle East conflict featured in the second reading speech as a live example of why statutory protections matter — the Minister noted that while airlines managed difficult circumstances, the crisis demonstrated the need for passengers to know their entitlements [TA-260401-house-6ae0f5f9fd41:s018].

Three companion bills complete the package. The Aviation Consumer Protection Levy Bill enables the Minister to set levies by regulation to recover the Authority's administrative costs on a cost-recovery basis [TA-260401-house-6ae0f5f9fd41:s019]. The Aviation Consumer Protection Levy (Collection) Bill establishes collection procedures for those charges [TA-260401-house-6ae0f5f9fd41:s020].

The Consequential Amendments and Transitional Provisions Bill does two things: it clarifies that a Charter breach will not trigger licence cancellation under the Air Navigation Act 1920, removing a potential disproportionate penalty that could have undermined the Charter's practical operation; and it transitions the Aircraft Noise Ombudsperson from a non-legislated function within Airservices Australia to a new statutory footing [TA-260401-house-6ae0f5f9fd41:s021].

Regional airports with fewer than one million passengers per year are to be exempt from the framework — a design choice the media release explicitly frames as recognising their community infrastructure status and limited operational capacity [TA-260401-infras-f0ceefa6fd5a].

The aviation reform announcements in the ministerial media releases and the parliamentary second reading speeches carry identical substance, indicating the government moved the bills and the public communication simultaneously. That density across both streams on the same day signals the package is a deliberate ministerial priority rather than a procedural step.

On roads, the Minister announced a new round of the Safer Local Roads and Infrastructure Program distributing $107 million across 42 projects nationally, with New South Wales receiving $43.97 million for 16 projects, Queensland $37.52 million for 11 projects, and Victoria $17.02 million for seven, alongside smaller allocations to Western Australia, South Australia, Tasmania, the Northern Territory and the ACT [TA-260401-infras-4196a9348caa:m00AMR].

More than $91 million is directed to regional Australia. On South Australia's River Torrens to Darlington corridor — a $15.4 billion project and the largest infrastructure commitment in the state's history — the first of three 300-tonne Tunnel Boring Machine cutterheads was lowered into the Southern Precinct launch box at Clovelly Park [TA-260401-infras-59f58c055ee4:m00AMR].

Tunnelling is expected to commence in the second half of 2026, with project completion targeted for 2031.

At question time the Minister shifted to the immediate fuel and freight crisis, outlining a multi-instrument government response: a three-month halving of fuel excise, a three-month freeze on heavy road user charges, ATO tax relief, and easier credit access for small business [TA-260401-house-6ae0f5f9fd41:s158]. She cited endorsements from the Australian Trucking Association, Road Freight NSW, and the retail sector.

The Minister also catalogued earlier supply-side actions including releasing 20 per cent of the minimum stockholding obligation, underwriting additional cargo imports, amending fuel quality standards, strengthening ACCC penalties for unfair fuel pricing, amending the Fair Work Act to enable contract renegotiation for transport operators, and bilateral engagement with Singapore and Korea on energy security.

The Minister characterised the Opposition's posture as directed by leaked talking points instructing members to deny the government had a plan and to heighten community concern about fuel security [TA-260401-house-6ae0f5f9fd41:s158].