Richard Marles (Corio, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Between 10 and 15 March this year, the Australian International Airshow and Aerospace and Defence Exposition will be held at Avalon Airport in Geelong, in my electorate. The airshow, which has been known as Airshow Downunder, was first staged at Avalon Airport back in 1992. Since then it has become a biennial event which in many circles has put Avalon Airport and Geelong on the world map. It is now the fourth largest airshow in the world. In 2007 it attracted nearly 200,000 visitors. It is a unique airshow because of its spectacular flying shows.

Measuring three kilometres in length, Avalon Airport has one of the longest landing areas in Australia, so it can handle the very largest civilian and military aircraft in the world, which makes the airshow so spectacular. But also, being located 15 minutes outside of Geelong and not near a residential area, this is a place where a great show can be put on for the public. They can sit on a flight line, giving them a vantage point which is simply not possible at other airshows around the world.

But this event is much more than just a spectacular display of aeronautical brilliance. It is, for example, a very important event in the calendar of our nation’s Air Force. It is also the showcase for the Australian aviation and aerospace industries. The airshow is considered the place to be to do business in those industries. In 2007 the airshow featured 600 participating exhibiting companies from 20 nations along with senior military personnel from around the world. All the big names were represented: Boeing, Lockheed Martin and Rolls Royce. This is a pointer to how economically important the airshow is to the Geelong region. The National Institute of Economic Industry Research reports the gross economic benefit of the airshow to the Geelong region as being $22 million. For Victoria it is $120 million. In addition to the 600 participating exhibiting companies there are 600 accredited journalists taking the story of the airshow at Avalon, and by association the Geelong region, to the world.

The economic importance of the airshow underlines how important economically Avalon Airport is to Geelong. Since Linfox bought the airport in 1997, jobs have grown tenfold. There are now 1,300 full-time jobs at Avalon, with thousands more in downstream activities. The Jetstar terminal handles close to a million passengers a year, and for the Geelong and western Victorian region it is estimated that an additional 250,000 interstate visitors come to the region because of Avalon. These extra visitors grow local tourism and generate tens of millions of dollars in economic activity.

In essence, Avalon is Australia’s first secondary airport to greater Melbourne. In aviation around the world it is in these secondary airports—airports like Luton, Gatwick and Avalon—that we have seen great growth. Jetstar services Sydney, Brisbane, Perth and Adelaide, but Linfox sees a real future for Avalon as the centre of a secondary airport network around Australia, including airports on the Gold Coast in Queensland and in other secondary cities.

It is the hope that Avalon will become an international airport and will have all the attendant attributes of an international airport: greater retail space and in time, we hope, a hotel. Its location makes it ideal for specialist international freight—from the Grand Prix air cargo, which will come through in a few weeks time, to giraffes and elephants which have been transported in exchange programs with other zoos around the world. All of these have gone through Avalon airport.

There is an important maintenance program at Avalon, a prime location for Qantas 747 aircraft maintenance. Through that maintenance and Jetstar, Qantas has played a critical role in the blossoming of Avalon Airport. Avalon is now the largest employment centre in the Geelong-Melbourne corridor. This year the airshow occurs during a very difficult economic time which threatens the jobs of so many in the Geelong region. Through that gloom, the airshow, Avalon Airport and the role of Qantas at Avalon are rays of hope for jobs in the future—which leads me to make a small request of Qantas in parliament tonight: wouldn’t it be great if, as a symbol of the importance of Qantas to Geelong and the importance of Geelong to Qantas, Qantas were to bring its new A380 aircraft to Avalon for the airshow. It would certainly be a showstopper and it would win over the hearts of all of us in the fair city of Geelong.