going to go under 3.20, page-13

re: tax selling and oil to 100 Singapore seeks open skies review



May 30, 2006 - 9:51AM
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Singapore is seeking a wholesale review of Australia's open skies policy as part of free trade negotiations just months after the Howard government rejected a bid by its national airline for access to the Sydney-Los Angeles route.

Trade Minister Mark Vaile has confirmed the Singapore government is seeking to have the issue reopened, but says the matter is separate to the FTA review.

"It was deliberately left out of the the FTA because it's a separate negotiation conducted by transport departments and we had progressively opened up access for Singapore Airlines in Australia at a fairly dramatic rate over the last six or seven years to the point where they just have enormous access," Mr Vaile told The Australian Financial Review.

"It's a stand-alone issue that we will continue to deal with on its merits by itself."

But the Singapore campaign may be assisted by the release of a letter - obtained by the Review under freedom of information laws - in which former deputy prime minister John Anderson wrote to Singapore in the lead-up to the original FTA talks saying he had asked his department to resume consultations, hoping it would lead to a "state of the art open skies agreement".

The Singapore Australia Free Trade Agreement (SAFTA), signed in July 2003, is up for two-yearly review in coming months.

Singapore Airlines was excluded in February from the lucrative trans-Pacific route, reportedly in favour of Qantas and Virgin Blue.

Singaporean sources say the FTA review will be reliant on progress of the open skies issue.

AAP