Peter Slipper (Fisher, Liberal Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I am very pleased rise in the chamber today to laud the successes and achievements of the Queensland Air Museum, situated at Caloundra on the Sunshine Coast. It is a wonderful establishment that has helped to preserve a wide range of interesting memorabilia relating to Australia’s aviation history. Items on display at the museum include some 40 aircraft and various hangars. Interestingly, the Air Museum was originally established in Brisbane in the early 1970s and then relocated to a two-hectare site on land at Caloundra’s aerodrome in 1986. Since then, it has continued to expand and to grow.

It has been fortunate to enjoy the enthusiastic support of many local people and also people from other parts of the state. This is an attraction that has operated on a shoestring, with some 160 volunteers, predominantly former RAAF and RAF service men and women, and civilians who have been involved in the aviation industry. The Air Museum has proven to be of significant importance to those who have an interest in Australia’s unique past and in particular aviation history.

Some 12,000 visitors pass through the doors of the Queensland Air Museum each year. As is often the case with attractions that are operated mainly through the love and enthusiasm of members, these sorts of attractions can sometimes become the victims of events occurring around them. Growth and expansion often mean that these facilities become vulnerable to outside forces and they often do not have the resources to help them deal with the associated problems. Airports are always constructed well away from built-up areas, but, as is commonly the case, the town grows and expands, and eventually engulfs the aerodrome so that, in due course, it is out of place in its location.

The future of Caloundra Aerodrome is under a cloud. There are proposals to redevelop the airstrip, which would mean that tenants at the site, such as aircraft engineering, flight training schools and charter businesses, would need to relocate to a new aerodrome. Unfortunately, the cost of relocating the Queensland Air Museum would be prohibitive. An estimate by the museum’s operations manager, Bill Coulter, which was mentioned in the local newspaper put the cost of dismantling and trucking the many aircraft to a new location somewhere in the vicinity of $5 million; it could even be more.

The truth of the matter is that, if the land on which the Air Museum stands is to be developed for other purposes, it is highly likely that this attraction will simply be forced to close up shop. This is something that I know would cause great distress to museum volunteers and local residents; it is also something I greatly oppose. This unique facility, which houses a special array of aviation artefacts, has taken some 37 years to accumulate. It would be a tragedy to lose it. It really is important that the Air Museum continues to ensure that our aviation history is appropriately recorded and that it continues to bear witness to the unique aviation history of this nation. I commend the Air Museum to the House.