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Legislative Assembly for the ACT: 2002 Week 14 Hansard (11 December) . . Page.. 4314 ..

MR SMYTH (continuing):

motherhood motion about things which are inevitable and things which are taking place anyway and with which, I am sure, the airport will comply, but you have to try to be relevant.

I get the impression from talking to the community that they feel that there is no support from this government for business. I cannot remember one instance of support from the government for the airport specifically. I am sure that the Chief Minister or Mr Quinlan will race down and tell me how they have been backing the airport to the hilt, but I do not recall them ever standing up for the airport in any way, shape or form. But I do find hope in the final lines of what Mr Corbell had to say when he said that they all have a role to play. He is right; they all do have a role to play.

Several years ago when the city of Christchurch purchased its airport, the mayor of Christchurch made the point that the airport was vital to the future of Christchurch as a city and advised that a local operator was needed to run your airport because they cared about it and were actually willing to put money in to build up the airport and keep the airport viable. That is why some of the diversity that the airport has gone into is important. It not only keeps the airport viable, but also allows the airport to reinvest, expand, provide more services and do the right thing by the people of Canberra.

The Chief Minister himself acknowledged that in his press release. In the final paragraph he spoke about what the airport had achieved, saying:

These developments are significant.

He went on to say:

But of equal significance to regional residents is the assistance that Canberra International Airport provided to Virgin Blue, Hazleton and Kendell Airlines which helped ensure that Canberra retained services, and more important, competition, after the collapse of Ansett.

And how did they get to do that? They got to do that because they had a support base that was not solely dependent upon aircraft landings and passengers transiting through their terminal. In effect, they have drought proofed the airport by building up its diversity and by building up its viability.

I will read various parts of the Chief Minister's press release. I would be delighted to have Mr Stanhope come in here and say that he is 100 per cent behind the airport because I am not sure, by the tone of Mr Hargreaves' motion, that that is quite clear. The press release says:

... Jon Stanhope today congratulated Canberra International Airport ... It is well-deserved recognition on the hard work and investment ... put into developing the airport and its precinct.

The press release quoted the Chief Minister as saying:

The award demonstrates that Canberra International Airport knows how to do it right and can lead the Australian industry ...

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