E&OE..........................................................................................
Well thank you very much Mr Baker; to Diana Laidlaw, to my many federal
colleagues and particularly Christine Gallus in whose electorate of
Hindmarsh the airport is located, ladies and gentlemen.
I am delighted to have been asked to come here this morning and to
officially open this runway extension. It is another example of the
commitment of the Federal Government to the building of necessary
infrastructure to support the growth and the expansion of the Australian
economy.
There's always a lot of legitimate debate about the role of Government
in modern society. There are some who see that Government or who argue
that the Government should have a greater role. There are others who
believe that the Government should have a lesser role. There are many
people quite understandably who believe that when governments try
and run businesses, they normally make a pretty significant hash of
it, and that has certainly been the experience of many South Australians
and it was the experience of many people in Victoria and many people
in Western Australia, and it is an ongoing legitimate argument to
put. And I don't think there is any debate across the political
and intellectual divide about the role of Government in Australia
about the proposition that one of the responsibilities of Government
is to provide a decent level of infrastructure within our community.
And that is why the Government I lead committed $100 million to the
construction of the Darwin to Alice Springs railway which is a very
very important infrastructure project to the people of South Australia
and to the people of the Northern Territory. And also might I say
to all the people of Australia, you would be surprised how many people
in Sydney where I grew up, who are very very attracted to the concept
of that particular infrastructure development.
And these runway extensions are very much in the same genre. They
represent a commitment by the Federal Government to the development
of the international capacity of the Adelaide airport, and I am therefore
very pleased to be associated with this project.
The main runway here has been extended by 572 metres and creating
a full-length taxiway and at a total cost to the Commonwealth of $45.7
million. It will bring great benefits to South Australia. It will
give additional freight capacity, particularly to Asian markets. It
will provide greater opportunities for direct exports of perishable
goods, and it will improve international tourism opportunities. And
both of those things, and increased freight capacity, and an increased
tourist capacity are important to the economy of South Australia.
I have long believed that a further significant exploitation of the
great tourist potential of South Australia, particularly surrounding
the great appeal of the Barossa Valley and other parts of the State
associated with the wine growing industry, are one of the important
elements of the future growth and the future development of the economy
of this State.
In a very special way this new air capacity does compliment the proposed
Darwin to Alice Springs Railway, the Adelaide to Darwin rail link.
And it will give many South Australian businesses in the future two
options. Either the new rail or the new air routes to markets and
they both represent new and fresh opportunities. So, it is in every
sense of the word a very important building block for the future growth
and development of businesses in South Australia. It represents a
vote of confidence by the Federal Government in the future economic
development and growth of South Australia. And I am delighted Mr Baker
that you are here, I know that you feel - as you are a native of Manchester
- absolutely acclimatised this morning, absolutely acclimatised. I
am delighted that you're here and I'm delighted to welcome
the contribution that your company, which has had great experience
in operating airports, the contribution that your company is making
to the development to the economy in South Australia.
It will, of course, generate a lot of jobs. And any economic activity
has no meaning at all unless it carries with it the generation of
jobs and the creation of job opportunities for Australians into the
future.
So ladies and gentlemen can I say how very pleased I am, again, to
be here. I want to congratulate Ms Laidlaw and her department and
the South Australian Government on the role that it's played.
I want to thank my own Federal colleagues for their persistent advocacy
- and I remark upon this - their persistent advocacy of the need for
the Federal Government to give a high priority to this runway extension.
I should tell all of you that long before I became Prime Minister
I felt the force of South Australian Federal representation towards
a very significant investment in this upgrade. And I was told my South
Australian colleagues that when it came, (... aircraft flying
overhead...) - it feels like Sydney! - when it came to putting
together our election commitments in 1996 when we were just in Opposition.
When it came to putting together those election commitments we have
to leave room for the provision of funds for this airport. And I can
well remember Senator Hill, the Leader of the Government in the Senate,
and the Senator from South Australia reminding all of us in those
days of the importance of this airport and the role that South Australians
correctly saw the airport playing in the future economic development
of the State and most particularly the business potential and the
business capacity of the city of Adelaide.
Therefore my friends, I know I've got to cut a ribbon or a banner
in a few moments, but let me say how delighted I am to be associated
with this extension. It's been finished ahead of time, a little
below budget, and congratulations to those who are associated with
that. That's always pleasing news, and it shows a commitment.
But of all of those people involved I congratulate them and I wish
all of those associated with the airport great success into the future.
Thank you.