Australian and other international airlines should be required to adjust their flight paths to avoid war zones and other dangerous areas, Transport Union boss Tony Sheldon will tell the ALP state conference this weekend.
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The Transport Workers Union will put a motion to the conference calling for Australian aviation regulations to be changed to make it compulsory for flight paths to be adjusted in accordance with international warnings.
Union national secretary Sheldon said compliance with warnings from the International Civil Aviation Organisation was voluntary but, in the interests of safety, should be made compulsory.
"ICAO, which is the overarching international body, needs to have the authority to stop airlines from flying over war zones," he said.
"They made a recommendation which said it was up to the individual registered carriers to make the final decision. And of course their decision is based on cost.
"It costs more to fly over other zones than this area where people are in danger."
Mr Sheldon said that as the aviation industry became further deregulated, it should not be left to individual airlines to make decisions that weighed financial cost against safety.
He said the most recent Malaysia Airlines tragedy would not have occurred if aviation airspace was properly regulated.
US aviation regulators had stopped aircraft registered in America from flying over the Ukraine war zone. But other countries have failed to act.
The TWU will also call for the creation of a national anti-corruption authority, modelled on the Independent Commission Against Corruption in NSW and with the powers of a royal commission.
Mr Sheldon, who is senior vice-president of the Labor Party, said the new body should also be equipped to investigate allegations of corporate fraud.
He will also move a motion to ban donations from companies whose business values conflict with the party position on issues such as the environment, labour relations and human rights.
Mr Sheldon called for the NSW ALP conference to raise the issue at the party's national conference next year and to push for real-time online disclosure of donations over $1000.
He recently called for affiliated trade union members to get one third of the vote in ALP leadership elections.
