Transcript: Doorstop, Gold Coast Airport, 15 July 2019
E&OE
Subjects: The redevelopment of Gold Coast Airport.
CHRIS MILLS:
All right. Well look, good afternoon everyone. Thanks for coming along today, and can I start by acknowledging the Traditional Owners of the land on which we gather today and pay my respects to Elders, past, present and emerging.
It’s a real pleasure to have the Deputy Prime Minister, the Honourable Michael McCormack, with us here today for this important milestone. And from Lendlease Building we also have the CEO Dale Connor. Today marks the next exciting step in the redevelopment of Gold Coast Airport – the construction of our terminal expansion. This has been a long time in the planning so we’re very excited to be at this point. Over the last couple of years, we’ve been investing airside and putting in more parking positions for planes. Earlier this year we started construction of the Rydges Hotel and now we’re starting the big project – the expansion of the terminal. This project, it’s a three-level building with aerobridges, with new facilities for processing passengers. This is where we will house our international operations; but we’ll also have innovative and smart swing technology to handle domestic traffic as well.
So this is about doubling the footprint of the existing terminal. It’s about taking Gold Coast Airport to the next level. So, a very exciting time. A lot of people at Gold Coast Airport have been planning and preparing for this event. So, to see it start to come out of the ground is really exciting. We’ll be building this for the next couple of years, and then we’ll come back and refurbish the existing terminal as well. So, we’re in the middle of rolling out half a billion dollars’ worth of investment within this precinct and we’re very pleased to play our part in driving the local economy and supporting the region.
By 2037, we expect to more than double the passenger numbers. We have almost 7 million passengers coming through Gold Coast Airport, so this sets us up for that future growth.
I’d like to thank the Federal Government for their support in approving our development plans, and before I introduce the Deputy Prime Minister, I’ll just ask Dale Connor from Lendlease to say a few words.
DALE CONNOR:
Thanks very much, Chris. I also acknowledge the Traditional Owners of the land here today, and acknowledge the Deputy Prime Minister being here today; and to Chris Mills and Gold Coat Airport for trusting Lendlease in this very important project – the southern terminal expansion – it’s a major project on the Gold Coast, a major project for Lendlease. This sort of challenging job in an operating environment ensuring that the safety of all people involved is maintained and the operations is maintained; it’s key to what Lendlease is- what we do and what we’re capable of. We’re also looking forward to working within the community of the Gold Coast and ensuring that as many jobs go to as many local businesses and people as much as possible.
So we thank you, Chris, for giving us the opportunity to work on this project. Very proud to be here on this auspicious day. Thank you, Chris.
CHRIS MILLS:
Thanks, Dale.
Without the Federal Government’s support and approval for developments at airports we wouldn’t be able to get on and do these projects. The Government’s supported and approved our plans for the airport hotel and they’ve supported this terminal expansion. And we look forward to their support as well, as we work through engaging with Government agencies and providing all the necessary Border Force services for international visitors. This airport is the first and last impression for people coming to the Gold Coast and we want to make sure it’s perfect for those visitors.
So, as I say, I’d like to acknowledge the Federal Government for their support and I’d like the welcome the Deputy Prime Minister, Michael McCormack.
MICHAEL MCCORMACK:
Well thank you, Chris, and thank you, Dale; thank you Queensland Airports Limited; thank you Lendlease; and most importantly, thank you to all the workers who are busy behind me, in front of me, getting on with the job of making sure that this airport terminal extension is happening, making sure that this motel construction – very much under way. This is a vision that QAL has had for many years and now it is becoming a reality.
Our Government was re-elected on the 18 May because we had a vision, because we had a plan. And I commend those organisations, those businesses also, which have a plan, which have a vision, which are looking to the future. We’ve just heard from Chris mentioning that airport numbers, passenger numbers, visitor numbers, are expected to double by 2037. Let’s face it, that’s not far away. Queensland Airports Limited have got a vision to make sure that they cater for those numbers. This airport is the Gold Coast's gateway to the world. Indeed, it's also the world's gateway to the Gold Coast. And we know that this is the mecca for Australian tourism. If you come to Australia, you've got to go to the Gold Coast, and if you come to the Gold Coast, well – you should go through the airport. And this is going to make it happen. It's going to make it absolutely for passengers, for visitors, their first impression of Australia for many of them. And that is going to be one great impression. It's also – as Chris says – the last impression of Australia. And again, it's going to be one hell of an impression for them, because this is going to be state of the art; world class. And the Gold Coast deserves such facilities. The people of Australia, visitors to Australia, deserve such facilities, and of course combine the terminal with the motel, and you're getting state of the art, world best practice, world best accommodation, world's best facilities for those people who are coming to the Gold Coast to share in all the delights that Queensland offers. And we only heard at the weekend at the LNP conference, just how exciting a place Queensland is, indeed it is, and we want to make sure that that investment, that certainty, that surety, is there – and that's why the Federal Government has made approvals for this project to go ahead. And I look forward very much to this exciting development continuing, and then returning to perhaps cut the ribbon when it is open. So congratulations one and all concerned, and happy to take any questions.
And on that note we'll just say thank you very much.
JOURNALIST:
Sorry, can I ask a question on a different subject?
MICHAEL MCCORMACK:
Yeah, that's fine.
JOURNALIST:
Do you have any update on the …
MICHAEL MCCORMACK:
[Talks over] Are there any questions about the development or the airport, to start with? No? So if I was an auctioneer, I'd say it's your turn.
JOURNALIST:
Do you have any updates on the Earle Haven – the retirement home [indistinct]?
MICHAEL MCCORMACK:
Look, I know the Minister Richard Colbeck is working very hard with all the stakeholders. I know that we've got temporary accommodation, I know that there's been a hotline established, and I know that the Government is taking this matter as we should; very seriously. Obviously, working in conjunction with the State Government as well. This is concerning, and that's why there is an Aged Care Royal Commission to look into these sorts of matters and other sorts of matters concerning senior Australians, because, you know, they're in their twilight years, they should have surety and certainty going forward, particularly for their accommodation. We take this matter very seriously. I know the Minister has spent the weekend ensuring that we've got the right provisions in place, and we'll continue to monitor the situation very closely.
JOURNALIST:
There’s meant to be a report due out today. [Indistinct]
MICHAEL MCCORMACK:
No I don't. At this stage.
JOURNALIST:
Is the Australian Government getting any closer to committing more money to the light rail extension?
MICHAEL MCCORMACK:
Well, look, we've got a hundred billion dollars of infrastructure right across the nation, and of course all sorts of rail – whether it's light, whether it's heavy. I'm very keen to have the inland rail progressed. We're investing, but we have to do it of course with state governments. They are, in one sense, the first step along the way to getting the infrastructure rollout across the nation. Just in recent weeks, I've had meetings with Annastacia Palaszczuk, with Mark Bailey as well, to see what we can do as far as infrastructure is concerned, and I look forward to working with state governments in future, no matter what their political persuasion is, because we want to roll out infrastructure right across the nation – not just Queensland, not just not just Brisbane, regional Queensland as well. And we're looking at all those sorts of things.
Thank you very much.