Kevin Hogan (Page, National Party, Assistant Minister to the Deputy Prime Minister) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Lismore is a site of an important moment in our postal service history. This month marks 100 years since Australia's first official airmail flight sanctioned by the Postmaster-General. The flight took place on Saturday 26 June 1920 when pilot Frank Roberts took off from a paddock in Lismore, flying to Tenterfield via Casino. Due to the isolation of our communities and a poor connection road, Lismore council had lobbied the Postmaster-General to consider airmail. It proposed its own region as an ideal trial site. At first, the Postmaster-General was not a fan, due to the cost and the reliability concerns. However, with Lismore chamber of commerce also pushing for the trial and a suitable plane and pilot found, the Postmaster-General sanctioned the trial. The plane carried 8,000 letters, which were then sent to Sydney from Tenterfield by train.

This week, there was a commemorative event to mark the occasion. Special mail was dropped in the 130-year-old postbox in Woodlark Street. This will then be transferred on a plane, following the original flight path, to Tenterfield. I would like to thank mail trail committee members Geoff Wotherspoon, David Cameron, and Bill and Helen McDermott, and also the President of the Richmond River Historical Society, Dr Robert Smith. Geoff Wotherspoon recently wrote Per Aerial Mail, a book about this significant event. He captured the excitement and the spirit of the aviators and the mail contractors who serviced regional Australia a century ago. I congratulate Geoff and everyone involved in celebrating this important milestone.