TRANSCRIPT: Deputy Prime Minister Michael McCormack, The Nationals’ Candidate for Mallee Anne Webster, Chairman of Mildura Airport Peter O’Donnell, Mayor of Mildura Rural City Council Simon Clemence

MILDURA INSTRUMENT LANDING SYSTEM ANNOUNCEMENT

EO&E

PETER O’DONNELL:
Thanks, everybody. We're very happy to have an esteemed group of people here today for what ... for Mildura Airport is I suppose the final piece in the puzzle for us to complete the flying school progress and the future sustainability of the school at our facilities. So we're very happy to welcome Deputy Prime Minister, Michael McCormack and other guests as well.
I'd like to welcome everybody, importantly, Michael. I think I've met you a couple of times, Michael and every time it's been a good occasion because he's promised some funding for us to do something that's very important for our region, so it's great to have you again here, Michael.

I'd like to welcome Councillors, particularly Mayor Simon Clemence. And happy birthday for today, Simon. And also Councillor, Mark Eckel, the previous Mayor.

Also, like to welcome particularly my special guests from International Aviation Alliance, Mr Zheng. Where are you Mr Zheng?

ANNE WEBSTER:
Over there.

PETER O’DONNELL:
Yep. That's wonderful to have Mr Zheng here. We haven't had you here for any of the announcements and we're very pleased to have you here today and for your commitment to our region. William Cheng, representing the company as well. Guy Pearson, who's the CEO of International Aviation Alliance. We're also very pleased to have Mr Liu here from China Eastern today especially.
I’d like to welcome Anne Webster, The Nationals’ Candidate for Mallee, also Serge Petrovitch, the Liberal Candidate for Mallee. A particular warm welcome to Tony Matthews, who's the chair of CASA here. We're very pleased to have a wonderful person like Tony, not only a Mildura person, but represents such an important association in Australian aviation.

I'd like to welcome Bill Burke, Maple CEO and all the staff of Maple and also all of the instructors and the students of the flying school. So, we're very happy to have you here and the instructors hiding over there. So, pleased to have everybody here.

As I said, this is a very good announcement. I'll hand it over to Michael to give the details, but I'll be happy to take some questions later on. Thank you.

Oh, it's Anne, sorry. Sorry, my apologies.

ANNE WEBSTER:
No worries. Good Afternoon, it's good to be here. I'm so pleased I had the opportunity to speak with the students a few weeks ago and present the hope that we would be successful with this funding and I'm delighted.

Today, we have the Deputy Prime Minister of Australia visiting us. It's a significant occasion and it's the final piece in the puzzle for this wonderful venture, here for Mildura.

I think what is exciting is the flow on effect, not only will there be excellent students that come out, pilots that come out of this school, but it will be the flow on effect for every 100 students approximately 8 to 10 million dollars will be coming into our region. It's a significant amount of money and we're really pleased to have Michael here. So, I would ask you to warmly welcome him.

MICHAEL MCCORMACK:
Thank you, Anne. (Applause). Well, thank you, Anne Webster, The Nationals' Candidate for Mallee. I acknowledge the Liberal Candidate, Serge Petrovitch and I acknowledge everybody here, particularly Mr Zheng. Thank you for your investment in this project.
But particularly, I also want to acknowledge and welcome the 30 students. 30 students, who are breaking new ground. 30 students who are going to be the take-off point for what is a really exciting investment not only in Mildura, not only in regional Victoria, but indeed, in country Australia because this is what the Liberals and Nationals' are doing. We are investing in regional Australia.
This $2 million investment, backed with $2 million as well from the local Council and the local airport is going to make such a difference. Mildura has it all. It's got open, blue skies. It's got plenty of flat ground. It's got great accommodation. Most of all, it's got very friendly country people and they are all going to be very welcoming of this pilot training school, pilot training investment, pilot training future for Mildura, for regional Victoria, for country Australia.
And I welcome the 30 young pilots. Mr Zheng, you're making an investment in young people. You are making an investment in the future of aviation. And to that, and for that, I say thank you very much.
Our government is also making an investment in regional Australia and this is part of our overall decentralisation, if you like, because what we're going to see as a result of this Instrument Landing System is better, safer airways here at Mildura. A system by which planes can land in low visibility, planes can land much safer in all sorts of conditions. But what we're also going to see is pilot training schools from metropolitan cities relocate to Mildura.
We've already seen that there's going to be a lot of interest in this. And for every dozen or so pilot trainees, that's pumping about a million dollars into the Mildura economy each and every year. And I know that for a fact because Wagga Wagga has a pilot training school. Wagga Wagga has an ILS and I've seen the difference that the ILS makes in pilot training, in those sorts of training schools and in the future of aviation at Wagga Wagga.
So if it's good enough for Wagga Wagga, it's certainly going to be good enough for Mildura and I know the local Mayor has said that this is going to be such a difference, make such a difference for Mildura, for the airport, and for the pilot training future of this particular region.
It's already having benefits at Wentworth. It's going to have benefits for so many of the towns around as well. And we know, that there's not too many nearby ILS systems, so this is going to be providing that ability for these trainee pilots to be able to get the very best out of their training. It's going to be so good for their instructors and I welcome you and I congratulate you for the investment that you're making and that you're taking in these young people.
So, if you have the best training facilities, if you have a wonderful city backing you, and if you have open, blue skies, then you know, put in an ILS and you've got the future virtually at your fingertips, at your hands.

So congratulations to all involved. This $2 million dollars is such an investment. It happened because Anne Webster, The Nationals' Candidate did not let up. It happened because she continually rang me and rang me and rang me and phoned me and said, "For goodness' sake, we need this. We need this not just for our region, we need it for our future. We need it for the young pilots who need to be able to train here. We need it so that pilot training schools can relocate to Mildura."
So thank you Mr. Zheng, again. I say thank you so very much in the investment you are making not only into your company's future, not only the investment that you've made, but also into the young people, who will make this their future, who will make this their home for about 14 or so months and I look forward to coming back here in 18 or so months to see it operational and to see safer ILS in place to make sure that we have a safer landing and to make sure that we have the very best of aviation technology available right here in Mildura.
Thank you very much. (Applause)

PETER O’DONNELL:
Thanks Michael and we very much appreciate that. I'd also like to acknowledge the support of Mildura City Council in this as well and I'll introduce Simon, the Mayor, Simon Clemence, Mayor of Mildura to speak. Thank you.

SIMON CLEMENCE:
Thank you. There's a lot of people have put a lot of work into this over the last couple of years. And I'd like to thank them for their efforts. In particular, Bill Burke, from Mildura Airport. The CEO has done some wonderful work to try and secure this particular facility.
Again, of course, Mr Zheng and his executive team and I've come to know them very well. And some of them are actually resettling here, in Mildura, which is wonderful to see.

If you just have a look at the 30 students here. I just invite you to use your imagination a bit and just double that number of students. And that's 60 and then multiply that, double by 10 and that's 600. And you imagine what that would look like. And that's how many students we're hoping to be able to train here each year, which is remarkable.

And when you look at the financial impacts of that, it's estimated that each of these student pilots will bring between $75,000 and $90,000 into the economy. If you look at that figure of 600. Multiply that out and you've got between 45 and $90 million dollars coming into this economy. And when you add to that the $40 million that's already been spent by Mr Zheng in setting this up, just in the first year alone, that's a $100 million dollars.

Now we fight and bite and scratch over a stadium for 26, 28 million dollars of funding, and we've already got an investment here now, today, secured today by this ILS system worth a $100 million. And that will continue at the rate of 45 to 60 million dollars every year ongoing.

And my understanding is the Chinese currently need something like 6,000 pilots and of course, as those positions are filled, there will be more pilots required as others retire or go elsewhere.

And so, this is obviously is going to be a long term investment in this town. It's going to go for decades. And so, I congratulate the government for this $2 million investment. And of course, I thank them. This investment actually secured this school. Without it, it could well have folded. But the deal's done now.

Obviously the Council still have to stump up a million dollars and there's nine Councillors have to vote on that, but I'm fairly confident that we'll manage to get that through.

And also, of course, thank you to the airport for putting in a million of their own. So once again, thank you all. You need to look at this as probably the biggest investment in Mildura's future that has been ever. And I'm sure it's going to make a big difference to this town. Thank you very much, cheers.

PETER O’DONNELL:
Thank you, Simon and please, in advance of their positive vote, thank the other Councillors as well.

So, just finally a big thank you to Michael, as Deputy Prime Minister being here today for the announcement. Thank you, Anne for doing your job, which is push hard for the town. So, we really appreciate that. And thank you for everybody, for attending today. We have some sandwiches and refreshments there, so please feel welcome to stay around and ask questions or have a look at the planes. So, thanks everybody for attending.

MICHAEL MCCORMACK:
Well done.

ANNE WEBSTER:
Do you guys have any questions?

JOURNALIST:
Just your name and your position, please.

MICHAEL MCCORMACK:
Michael McCormack, Deputy Prime Minister and Minister for Infrastructure, Transport and Regional Development.

JOURNALIST:
Okay. Michael, you’re back in Mildura, why did The Nationals commit to this?

MICHAEL MCCORMACK:
Because it was important and Anne Webster continually reminded me about the need for an Instrument Landing System here at Mildura. Acknowledging the fact that there would be more pilot training schools, relocate to Mildura should this ILS be put into place, and $2 million is a good investment and certainly for aviation future, not just from Mildura, but indeed the entire region. This is important for the Mallee, this is important for jobs, it's important to secure more pilots into the future, and it just makes sense. Makes a good investment.

JOURNALIST:
Yep. Just to confirm, this is not an election commitment, this is funding that we will receive?

MICHAEL MCCORMACK:
This is funding that will be allocated, it's in the budget, just like the $100 million that we put in the budget for regional aviation airports. Making sure that we upgrade taxiways and runways at various country airports right around the nation. We are spending that amount of investment to ensure better safety outcomes, to ensure that such things as pilot training schools can be relocated to country areas, and Mildura is leading the way. I'm really pleased to say that they are leading the way because of the advocacy of Anne Webster.

JOURNALIST:
That's all I have to ask.

JOURNALIST:
Anne, sorry. Just one for you. Can you just explain exactly the economic benefits, and the scale of the economic benefits coming from both the flight school and the ILS?

ANNE WEBSTER:
Yes. My understanding from the CEO is that for every 10 students who become pilots in this process, there is eight to 10 million dollars that comes into the region. So whether it's services, or transport, or whatever might be required, there's also an expectation that tourism is going to increase because these students are in Mallee, Mildura specifically for about 14 months. So their families, it's expected that they will come and visit, so it's just that ongoing funding into the area. So it's very exciting.

JOURNALIST:
Would you call it one of the most significant projects for Mildura in recent times?

ANNE WEBSTER:
Yeah, absolutely. Because it's ... For the amount of investment, the outcome economically is really significant.

JOURNALIST:
Yeah.

MICHAEL MCCORMACK:
And the Mayor was just here, the Mayor Simon Clemence just made that point that this is the most significant investment in Mildura. He talked about the local sports stadium, which came at a cost of a bit over $20 million, about $26 million, which in his words, "they had to fight, and scrap, and scratch for," and it was funded, but this just has such economic activity around it. I mean, the flow on effects are incredible. As Anne Webster just indicated, the direct and indirect jobs that are going to be created, not just for Mildura, but also for Wentworth, the Ouyen, and towns around Mildura. It's going to have such an economic outpouring of money, of jobs, of accommodation, of food. Everybody needs to be housed, and fed, and watered, and so it's just going to be such an incredible economic outcome for this area.

JOURNALIST:
Question for you, Anne. People ... We've had a lot of people on social media saying that The Nationals and now spending money in the seat of Mallee because it is at risk. What's your response to that?

ANNE WEBSTER:
No. The majority of the funding, that I'm aware of, is existing grants that have been rolled out in Mallee. So we have 12 shires, and those shires as well as companies and organisations within the shires, have applied for grants over this period of time, and they have been allocated, so …

JOURNALIST:
Including in this funding?

ANNE WEBSTER:
Yeah.

MICHAEL MCCORMACK:
But we're spending money in regional seats right across Australia, it's not just Mallee. I'm spending this entire election campaign indeed, and the 12 months leading up to that, rolling out money across regional Australia because it's the right and proper thing to do because when regional Australia is strong, Australia is strong. You boost the regions, you boost the nation. That's what we're doing. And you know, every ... All the primary industries come out of our regions. So much of our economic wealth comes out of the regions, and Mallee punches well above its weight when it comes to making sure that the economy of the nation is going well. And you have to also tap into those free trade agreements that we've got with Peru, with South Korea, China, Japan.

We're doing that through investing in more water storage infrastructure, we're doing … and I know we've spent a lot of money on water storage infrastructure, and pipelines and the like across the Mallee, but we've also done it in North and Central Queensland. We've also done it in other parts of the nation. It's not just because we've got an election, it's not just because we're transitioning this seat from one National Party member hopefully to Anne Webster, another National Party Candidate. We are making sure that we invest where it's needed, and the right infrastructure as part of our $100 billion record amount of infrastructure that we're rolling out across the nation, and regional Australia is not missing out on that.

JOURNALIST:
And just a general election question. Pre-polling opens Monday, are either of you in a position to say how preferences are going to go at this stage for The Nationals?

MICHAEL MCCORMACK:
Well, preferences in my seat will be going Michael McCormack Nationals first. This is the Riverina first, Palmer Party second, Labor third, and The Greens last. So that's how ... I've only got to three candidates against me, but I take nothing for granted. Good luck to those three candidates. I'll be banking on my good record of delivery for the Riverina, which is in southwest New South Wales and the Central West, and looking to the future to create even more jobs and better outcomes for the people of the Riverina.

JOURNALIST:
And for Mallee?

ANNE WEBSTER:
And for Mallee we have, obviously, 13 candidates, and I likewise wish each one well. The State Director is the one who determines preferences for Victorian seats, and they are, I believe, are finalised, and I don't have a list of those at this point in time, so I can't tell you.

JOURNALIST:
Okay. Again, just ... And a general question for both of you, two of the independents in Mallee have said that they're going to preference The Nationals last. Given that there’s candidates from the Fraser Anning party and Rise Up, do you think that's reasonable?

MICHAEL MCCORMACK:
Well, if those independents don't want delivery from Mallee, well, that'd be a good way to do it. I mean, if they want to put The Nationals last, then they're not thinking of the future for Mallee, they're not thinking of the future for this great region. And you look at the record of some of the other candidates who are putting their hands up for Mallee, it's almost a Melbourne Cup field. But you look at Fraser Anning, and the sorts of disgraceful things that he has come out with in recent times. Abhorrent. Quite frankly, abhorrent. And you look at what The Greens are going to do and want to do to regional Australia, to farming outcomes, to people who want to grow food and fibre to help feed and clothe this nation and others besides.
And then you start to wonder why an independent, why any sane member who, or candidate who wants to boost their local region would want to put the National Party, which has delivered in spades for this region and will continue to do so, why they'd want to put them last. Why they'd want to put The Nationals last, well that is just anyone's guess. They obviously don't care about their future or their children's future.

JOURNALIST:
Do you think it's also, as you mentioned, the Fraser Anning party in particular, if you take the politics out of it and just look at it as a moral decision, what would you say to putting that party or The Nats after that party in preference?

MICHAEL MCCORMACK:
Well, I think it's ridiculous. Why would you want to put The Nationals last? Why would you want to put The Nationals below Fraser Anning or The Greens? And quite frankly, Bill Shorten and Labor don't offer the country of Australia anything either. I mean, Bill Shorten and his Agriculture Spokesman, Joel Fitzgibbon, want to tell farmers what to do, how to do it, when to do it, why to do it. They want to nationalise Queensland's native veg laws, land clearing, tree clearing laws. They want to take all the water out of the irrigation areas and send it out of the mouth of Murray. That's the Labor way. In Queensland they want to set up a Transition Authority so that anybody in the resources sector can transition from that job, that well-paying, secure job, into something else. Maybe making macchiatos, or whatever those coffees are called in a metropolitan city.

I mean, I don't drink them. I’m just a straight cappuccino man. I mean, this is nonsense. This is totally nonsense, but I'm not planning on counting too many National Party preferences anyway, because I'd like to think that the National Party will finish first and second because we deserve to. We've achieved so much for regional Australia, and the knockers, and the mockers, and the naysayers can ... They've been doing it for a hundred years anyway, but we keep turning up, and we keep delivering, and I know Anne Webster is going to make a magnificent member for Mallee. I know how hard she's worked. I know she's phoning me every day of the week, early in the morning, late at night, and she will go on doing that. I know she's advocating for and on behalf of this great region of Victoria, she wants the best outcome. Not for her, she wants the best outcome for the people of this area.

JOURNALIST:
And Anne, do you have any comment about the two independents that are putting The Nats last?

ANNE WEBSTER:
No. I just think that what people need to realise is when they vote for an independent, they are effectively voting for Bill, and they need to think about that.

JOURNALIST:
Excellent. Thanks, everyone. Thank you very much.