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Legislative Assembly for the ACT: 2000 Week 4 Hansard (30 March) . . Page.. 1173 ..

MS CARNELL (continuing):

were identified as having the potential to contribute to achieving the vision for the airport which I believe is shared by many members of the Assembly. I have spoken with many airlines in an attempt to interest them in Canberra.

I would like to draw your attention to some of the elements of our vision for the airport. For the airport to develop as a hub, we need to improve our links with other capital cities. We already have frequent flights to Sydney and Melbourne and less frequent flights to Brisbane and Adelaide. The more we can improve these, the easier it becomes for people to come here and do business. We sought Kendall and Virgin for their ability to achieve just that.

Equally, development as a hub requires the development of good connections with regional centres. What does Canberra have at present? We have only a fraction of the number of regional connections enjoyed by Dubbo, a city of about one-tenth our size. Access Economics says that Canberra probably has fewer direct flight connections than any other capital city in the OECD. Why? It is because the major airlines have invested in a Sydney hub and have no interest in developing an alternative so close to Sydney. But the routes and the demand exist. Studies commissioned independently by the Canberra International Airport and by us show that convincingly. We sought Hazelton Airlines as a means of developing these regional routes.

We have also looked at developing aircraft servicing facilities at Canberra Airport. Airlines love to fly their aircraft into a servicing centre with a full load of passengers, have the work undertaken and then fly out fully loaded as it helps them with their balance sheets. But that turns out to be somewhat of a chicken and egg situation. The bottom line is that you need to be a hub to attract the other high-value activities associated with airports.

It is worth pausing here to remind you of some of the reasons why an airport is a strategic asset to a region. Certainly, the airline industry is job intensive. It provides lots of jobs in its own right - check-in staff, baggage handlers, ground staff, cabin staff, aircrew, maintenance staff and administrative staff, to name just some. So, as an industry in its own right, it provides lots of benefits to the local community. But it is about much more than that. It is about innovation, expansion, growth and training. Development of the airport can also lead to the development of the local aerospace industry, a new industry for this area.

Initially, that may be for servicing aircraft passing through; but once that capacity is established, it can attract support industries for aircraft and their servicing facilities, research, education, training, financing and communications - the list goes on. Once you have that happening, if you have created the right environment, it will bring in other airline operators and manufacturers who are attracted by the support infrastructure that has been established. In short, you will have a growing aerospace industry. I am sure that we will discuss the development of the aerospace industry again in the Assembly. In fact, I was informed just today of the first potential spin-off or additional development. The provider of the jet aircraft and Rolls Royce are proposing to locate their spare parts consignment centre - worth, I am advised, $30m - in the ACT if Impulse locates its jet base here.

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