Mr McADAM - 2003-05-01
Air travel is very important for the people of Central Australia. Minister, you would have read of the proposed cuts and services by Air North in this morning’s NT News. Clearly, these services will impact on Tennant Creek. Can you please advise the House what action you propose to take in respect of this matter?
ANSWER
Madam Speaker, I thank the member for his question. I do not believe anything I read in the newspapers. The first thing I did was to ring the Manager of Air North, Mr Michael Bridge, and discuss the issue him, and he assured me he has no intention to cut services to Tennant Creek or Alice Springs. However, he also told me that the newspaper rang him and asked him for his comments without telling him what it was all about.
However, this government and Air North had discussions before about delivering their services to different regions in the Northern Territory. I had a close cooperation with Mr Bridge, and also a member of their board, whose name is Mr Barry Coulter, and I am pretty sure the other side knows very well who I am referring to. I will continue to help the industry. I am having a meeting this afternoon with the managers of the Alice Springs and Tennant Creek Airports, because one of the issues that Mr Bridge brought to my attention was the high landing fees for aircraft at Tennant Creek Airport.
As I said before, the government will help Air North in any way. We have several issues with the way public servants travel, especially if they have to travel to Katherine. They can fly there and fly out in one day, rather than driving down, staying overnight and coming back. I assure the member from Tennant Creek that this government will continue to improve the delivery of air services to the Centre of Australia. For example, in this morning’s newspaper, if you care to look at page 39 in particular, there are a whole stack of tenders to be called by June 2003, referring to aerodromes and airfields in Central Australia.
I will mention that in the Alice Springs region, Areyonga aerodrome is to be upgraded to CASA standards; the Docker River aerodrome is to be upgraded to CASA standards; the Mt Liebig and Papunya aerodromes are to be upgraded; Nyirripi is to be upgraded; and Wulungurru aerodrome is to be upgraded as well. Total cost is approximately $3m to improve the services to Central Australia.
We have a commitment to Central Australia, and we mean business in Central Australia. We brought parliament here in Central Australia. I remember the previous government refused many times to bring parliament to Central Australia. Their argument was: ‘There is no point, the sitting member is winning with 76%. Why would we want to go down to Alice Springs?’
ANSWER
Madam Speaker, I thank the member for his question. I do not believe anything I read in the newspapers. The first thing I did was to ring the Manager of Air North, Mr Michael Bridge, and discuss the issue him, and he assured me he has no intention to cut services to Tennant Creek or Alice Springs. However, he also told me that the newspaper rang him and asked him for his comments without telling him what it was all about.
However, this government and Air North had discussions before about delivering their services to different regions in the Northern Territory. I had a close cooperation with Mr Bridge, and also a member of their board, whose name is Mr Barry Coulter, and I am pretty sure the other side knows very well who I am referring to. I will continue to help the industry. I am having a meeting this afternoon with the managers of the Alice Springs and Tennant Creek Airports, because one of the issues that Mr Bridge brought to my attention was the high landing fees for aircraft at Tennant Creek Airport.
As I said before, the government will help Air North in any way. We have several issues with the way public servants travel, especially if they have to travel to Katherine. They can fly there and fly out in one day, rather than driving down, staying overnight and coming back. I assure the member from Tennant Creek that this government will continue to improve the delivery of air services to the Centre of Australia. For example, in this morning’s newspaper, if you care to look at page 39 in particular, there are a whole stack of tenders to be called by June 2003, referring to aerodromes and airfields in Central Australia.
I will mention that in the Alice Springs region, Areyonga aerodrome is to be upgraded to CASA standards; the Docker River aerodrome is to be upgraded to CASA standards; the Mt Liebig and Papunya aerodromes are to be upgraded; Nyirripi is to be upgraded; and Wulungurru aerodrome is to be upgraded as well. Total cost is approximately $3m to improve the services to Central Australia.
We have a commitment to Central Australia, and we mean business in Central Australia. We brought parliament here in Central Australia. I remember the previous government refused many times to bring parliament to Central Australia. Their argument was: ‘There is no point, the sitting member is winning with 76%. Why would we want to go down to Alice Springs?’
Last updated: 09 Aug 2016