Airlines of New South Wales

Ansett had already acquired a 40 percent interest in Butler Air Transport when he had purchased the ailing Australian National Airways in 1957.

[4] In addition to providing scheduled passenger services, the airline also conducted tourist operations, with actor Steve Dodd working for it as a guide in central Australia in the late 1960s and early 1970s.

[8] In the 1960s, Airlines of New South Wales was at the centre of an Australian High Court case about the powers of the state and national governments to regulate aviation.

[10] On 26 October the airline increased the pressure, by operating—at a financial loss—an indirect route to Dubbo via Canberra, thus crossing a state border and therefore seeking to avoid the application of the New South Wales laws.

[5] On 3 February 1965 the court, in Airlines of New South Wales Pty Ltd v New South Wales (No 2), found that air navigation within a state can be regulated by the Commonwealth to the extent that it provides for the safety of, or prevention of physical interference with, interstate or foreign air navigation.