Mr HOWSE (CALARE, NEW SOUTH WALES) - I ask the Minister for

Civil Aviation whether it is correct that the Australian Government has decided to increase the mail carriage subsidy paid to Trans-Australia Airlines from £325,000, the amount of the subsidy paid last year, to £400,000 this year ? If so, has the subsidy been increased on the ground that Trans-Australia Airlines is now providing services in Queensland previously provided by Qantas? Is it correct that the payments made to Qantas were based on a pound-mile rate, and did not amount to anything like the £75,000 additional subsidy which, it is reported, will be paid to Trans-Australia Airlines? If the subsidy to Qantas was less than the additional £75,000 which Trans-Australia Airlines is reported to be receiving, what is the reason for this additional expenditure ?