Jane Prentice (Ryan, Liberal Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Last Friday, fellow members of the Joint Standing Committee on Foreign Affairs, Defence and Trade and I had the incredible privilege of flying up to Brisbane from Canberra—but this time on a Hercules C130. It was a most amazing trip because not only did we have a wonderful escort from the services but we did some interesting things along the way. We took off and did some low flying over Lake George, which was very special—I think we probably scared a few herds of animals on the way. We then proceeded to do some airdrops and we flew in formation with another Hercules. It was a very special way to start off Friday.

We landed up in Amberley and had an inspection of the base up there—one squadron had just returned from the Middle East—and we were able to see some of the incredible new facilities. There is quite a lot of expansion happening there, and the Army are also working alongside. They have storage facilities now for their ration packs. In particular, I was very interested to talk to the people running the health facilities, people who are prepared to go out, when needed, on call. We are served so well by our Defence service men and women, and it was a privilege to join them on Friday. I particularly thank Wing Commander Jo Elkington. (Time expired)