❓ Minister MacTiernan responds to a question regarding the proposal to move Jandakot Airport, expressing skepticism and concern about the motivations and potential impacts on aviation services, particularly the RFDS and police air support.
AnsweredQoN 355Legislative Assembly
QuestionView source ↗
JANDAKOT AIRPORT
Will the minister report on the proposals to move Jandakot Airport? Ms A.J.G. MacTIERNAN
Will the minister report on the proposals to move Jandakot Airport? Ms A.J.G. MacTIERNAN
AnswerView source ↗
I thank the member for this question. We were intrigued to read of this proposal in The Australian this morning. The first we heard of it was on Monday, and our officers were sworn to secrecy by the proponents saying that it could not be discussed anywhere, which was quite interesting. With the privatisation of airports around Australia, aviation has become a poor second to property development. Some of the statements that have been made in the last day about Jandakot Airport indicate that the real driver behind this proposal to move Jandakot Airport to Keysbrook comes from a desire to unlock the development potential of this recently acquired asset by the Ascot Capital Group, a company which, on all accounts, has no background in aviation and which acquired the property earlier this year. It seems to us that its claims that Jandakot will not be able to meet the needs of the aviation community are vastly overstated and quite at odds with the master plan that was signed by the federal government only in January this year, which indicated that, even in 25 years, the full capacity of Jandakot Airport would not be met. We are concerned about whether the relocated site would provide properly for the Royal Flying Doctor Service of Australia. It would be a long way from the major hospitals which it uses. The Western Australian Police Air Support Unit would also have concerns, and the flying schools, which are a very important part of the Jandakot aviation family, are very much attracted to that site by the existence of an air control tower. We have grave doubts that the federal air services would be prepared to fund a control tower so far from the Perth International Airport. A considerable degree of scepticism or, at the very least, caution has to accompany this proposal. Nevertheless, if all of those aviation issues can be successfully resolved, we would be prepared to look at that development. We can see some attractive opportunities that would result from the sale of the Jandakot site. However, I make this point: any approval that we give will be very much predicated on the health of the aviation industry, and we will not be following the federal government’s lead which allows property development to override the provision of proper aviation services in this state.
Ms A.J.G. MacTIERNAN replied : I thank the member for this question. We were intrigued to read of this proposal in The Australian this morning. The first we heard of it was on Monday, and our officers were sworn to secrecy by the proponents saying that it could not be discussed anywhere, which was quite interesting. With the privatisation of airports around Australia, aviation has become a poor second to property development. Some of the statements that have been made in the last day about Jandakot Airport indicate that the real driver behind this proposal to move Jandakot Airport to Keysbrook comes from a desire to unlock the development potential of this recently acquired asset by the Ascot Capital Group, a company which, on all accounts, has no background in aviation and which acquired the property earlier this year. It seems to us that its claims that Jandakot will not be able to meet the needs of the aviation community are vastly overstated and quite at odds with the master plan that was signed by the federal government only in January this year, which indicated that, even in 25 years, the full capacity of Jandakot Airport would not be met. We are concerned about whether the relocated site would provide properly for the Royal Flying Doctor Service of Australia. It would be a long way from the major hospitals which it uses. The Western Australian Police Air Support Unit would also have concerns, and the flying schools, which are a very important part of the Jandakot aviation family, are very much attracted to that site by the existence of an air control tower. We have grave doubts that the federal air services would be prepared to fund a control tower so far from the Perth International Airport. A considerable degree of scepticism or, at the very least, caution has to accompany this proposal. Nevertheless, if all of those aviation issues can be successfully resolved, we would be prepared to look at that development. We can see some attractive opportunities that would result from the sale of the Jandakot site. However, I make this point: any approval that we give will be very much predicated on the health of the aviation industry, and we will not be following the federal government’s lead which allows property development to override the provision of proper aviation services in this state.
I thank the member for this question. We were intrigued to read of this proposal in The Australian this morning. The first we heard of it was on Monday, and our officers were sworn to secrecy by the proponents saying that it could not be discussed anywhere, which was quite interesting. With the privatisation of airports around Australia, aviation has become a poor second to property development. Some of the statements that have been made in the last day about Jandakot Airport indicate that the real driver behind this proposal to move Jandakot Airport to Keysbrook comes from a desire to unlock the development potential of this recently acquired asset by the Ascot Capital Group, a company which, on all accounts, has no background in aviation and which acquired the property earlier this year. It seems to us that its claims that Jandakot will not be able to meet the needs of the aviation community are vastly overstated and quite at odds with the master plan that was signed by the federal government only in January this year, which indicated that, even in 25 years, the full capacity of Jandakot Airport would not be met. We are concerned about whether the relocated site would provide properly for the Royal Flying Doctor Service of Australia. It would be a long way from the major hospitals which it uses. The Western Australian Police Air Support Unit would also have concerns, and the flying schools, which are a very important part of the Jandakot aviation family, are very much attracted to that site by the existence of an air control tower. We have grave doubts that the federal air services would be prepared to fund a control tower so far from the Perth International Airport. A considerable degree of scepticism or, at the very least, caution has to accompany this proposal. Nevertheless, if all of those aviation issues can be successfully resolved, we would be prepared to look at that development. We can see some attractive opportunities that would result from the sale of the Jandakot site. However, I make this point: any approval that we give will be very much predicated on the health of the aviation industry, and we will not be following the federal government’s lead which allows property development to override the provision of proper aviation services in this state.
Ms A.J.G. MacTIERNAN replied : I thank the member for this question. We were intrigued to read of this proposal in The Australian this morning. The first we heard of it was on Monday, and our officers were sworn to secrecy by the proponents saying that it could not be discussed anywhere, which was quite interesting. With the privatisation of airports around Australia, aviation has become a poor second to property development. Some of the statements that have been made in the last day about Jandakot Airport indicate that the real driver behind this proposal to move Jandakot Airport to Keysbrook comes from a desire to unlock the development potential of this recently acquired asset by the Ascot Capital Group, a company which, on all accounts, has no background in aviation and which acquired the property earlier this year. It seems to us that its claims that Jandakot will not be able to meet the needs of the aviation community are vastly overstated and quite at odds with the master plan that was signed by the federal government only in January this year, which indicated that, even in 25 years, the full capacity of Jandakot Airport would not be met. We are concerned about whether the relocated site would provide properly for the Royal Flying Doctor Service of Australia. It would be a long way from the major hospitals which it uses. The Western Australian Police Air Support Unit would also have concerns, and the flying schools, which are a very important part of the Jandakot aviation family, are very much attracted to that site by the existence of an air control tower. We have grave doubts that the federal air services would be prepared to fund a control tower so far from the Perth International Airport. A considerable degree of scepticism or, at the very least, caution has to accompany this proposal. Nevertheless, if all of those aviation issues can be successfully resolved, we would be prepared to look at that development. We can see some attractive opportunities that would result from the sale of the Jandakot site. However, I make this point: any approval that we give will be very much predicated on the health of the aviation industry, and we will not be following the federal government’s lead which allows property development to override the provision of proper aviation services in this state.
I thank the member for this question. We were intrigued to read of this proposal in The Australian this morning. The first we heard of it was on Monday, and our officers were sworn to secrecy by the proponents saying that it could not be discussed anywhere, which was quite interesting. With the privatisation of airports around Australia, aviation has become a poor second to property development. Some of the statements that have been made in the last day about Jandakot Airport indicate that the real driver behind this proposal to move Jandakot Airport to Keysbrook comes from a desire to unlock the development potential of this recently acquired asset by the Ascot Capital Group, a company which, on all accounts, has no background in aviation and which acquired the property earlier this year. It seems to us that its claims that Jandakot will not be able to meet the needs of the aviation community are vastly overstated and quite at odds with the master plan that was signed by the federal government only in January this year, which indicated that, even in 25 years, the full capacity of Jandakot Airport would not be met. We are concerned about whether the relocated site would provide properly for the Royal Flying Doctor Service of Australia. It would be a long way from the major hospitals which it uses. The Western Australian Police Air Support Unit would also have concerns, and the flying schools, which are a very important part of the Jandakot aviation family, are very much attracted to that site by the existence of an air control tower. We have grave doubts that the federal air services would be prepared to fund a control tower so far from the Perth International Airport. A considerable degree of scepticism or, at the very least, caution has to accompany this proposal. Nevertheless, if all of those aviation issues can be successfully resolved, we would be prepared to look at that development. We can see some attractive opportunities that would result from the sale of the Jandakot site. However, I make this point: any approval that we give will be very much predicated on the health of the aviation industry, and we will not be following the federal government’s lead which allows property development to override the provision of proper aviation services in this state.
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