Rob Mitchell (McEwen, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Hansard source

I rise to speak in support of this motion and agree with most of what the member for Solomon said, but we will just disregard the cheeky political stuff because I think this is a good motion that should be spoken about properly. Recently I had the honour of spending time with the 42nd Wing 2nd Squadron of Williamtown air base in the electorate of the member for Newcastle, sitting beside me, who kindly allowed me into her electorate. I must say that it was a fantastic opportunity to spend time on the E7A Wedgetail in operational use.

For obvious reasons, I am not going to go into detail about how the aircraft operates, but I can say that it is one special bit of kit crewed by exceptional people. I was immediately impressed with the professionalism and enthusiasm the crew have for their job, their pride in the work they were doing and how this work protected our nation and kept our fighter pilots and ground troops out of harm's way.

We now have the opportunity for detailed briefings and witness the Wedgetail in action, including what I would call a scary in-flight fuel refill. That is something that really shakes you up a bit—when you are sitting in the front of a 737 at 21,000 feet and you are 30 feet from the back of another jetliner full of fuel. It is not something you would normally expect when you travel. The professionalism in which it was done was something to behold. It is a credit to the pilots and all the staff involved.

It is worth noting some of the significant milestones of the aircraft: in 2014, air control of marine patrol aircraft taking part in the search for MH370; in October 2014, the first Australian sortie over Iraq supporting coalition forces conducting airstrikes against Daesh; and in 2015 the Wedgetail performed the longest Australian command-and-control mission over a war zone—a 16-hour and 18-minute combat mission over Iraq, including two of the air-to-air refuelling to stay aloft. Wedgetail crews routinely performed 13-hour missions. Operation OKRA is another part of the Defence Force's contribution to the international effort to combat Daesh, the terrorist threat in Iraq. Australia's contribution has been closely coordinated with the Iraqi government, the Gulf nations, and the broad coalition of international partners. I was reading an article in which the commander of Australia's Air Task Group, Air Commodore Steve Roberton, commented on the endurance mission and what it meant. The article states:

"After already being ‘on station’ for a number of hours, the Australian Wedgetail crew was advised the Coalition aircraft due to relieve them was delayed," Air Commodore Roberton said.

In response, the Wedgetail crew quickly assessed their ability to coordinate additional air-to-air refuelling and agreed to substantially extend their mission.

“Try to imagine coordinating a short-notice, mid-air refuel for a Boeing 737 in the middle of a combat zone. It is no small task,” he said.

Air Commodore Roberton noted Australia’s ability to ‘go above and beyond’ is a clear demonstration of the nation’s important contribution to the Coalition air campaign.

The E-7A Wedgetail crew completed two air-to-air refuels during this mission, allowing it to stay airborne and make the historic time.

The fact is, these aircraft are the envy of other nations. It has not happened by default—it has happened because of skills the RAAF personnel have obtained.

I also recently read an article by Brian Hartigan, titled: 'When the "shit got real" for Australia’s Wedgetail'. He writes:

That first mission was supposed to be a fairly easy-paced shadowing of an American E-3 Sentry on station over the northern-Iraqi Battle Management Area (BMA), to allow the mission crew (using their own onboard callsign “Outback”) to observe how the job was done in real time before taking on any live tasking.

But when the ageing E-3 developed technical problems … the Aussies stepped up and took over—throwing themselves and Australia’s newest and most advanced warplane headlong into the fight.

…   …   …

So successful has Australia’s Wedgetail now become that stories of American strike squadrons delaying or planning missions to coincide with Wedgetail flight times have filtered back to a proud Aussie hierarchy.

This aircraft is a vital piece of our Defence Force and its capability to defend our nation. It may not be as exciting to look at as a Super Hornet or a JSF but, I tell you, the crews who fly these things and the crews who put the capability into action, including the magnificent ground crew, and the men and women of the surveillance response group in this country—we would be far worse off without them. The Boeing E7A Wedgetail, an airborne early control and warning aircraft, has reached its final operational capacity. That is due to the skills of the ADF personnel and we thank them very much for their service to our nation. (Time expired)

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