Kay Hull (Riverina, National Party) Share this | Hansard source

It is a great pleasure for me to speak on the Aviation Transport Security Amendment (2009 Measures No. 1) Bill 2009. As we have heard from other speakers, this bill serves purely to ensure that aviation is secure across Australia, and we have a proud history in securing aviation. There are four sets of amendments to the ATSA in the bill, and many of them are to do with the Department of Infrastructure, Transport, Regional Development and Local Government designating security controlled airports a particular category of airport, according to their risk profiles. Included in this risk profiling are our very valuable regional airports, which are valuable in more ways than one. There are the commuter airports that deliver medical professionals and businesses into rural and regional communities to ensure their sustainability and equity of access to medicine, and there are other airports that bring the aviation history of Australia to our attention.

Australian aviation has a very proud history. Legislation changes and improvements such as we see today enable our aviation history, both civilian and military, to be celebrated. One such celebration of aviation which is very relevant to the way in which the Australian people understand and appreciate aviation and the need for aviation safety is the Temora Aviation Museum. In the midst of the current economic difficulties and the drought which grips vast areas of rural and regional Australia, the Temora Aviation Museum is a success story which few rural and regional towns and cities can match. In just 10 years this museum has grown into a world-class institution. It is truly a tribute to the hard work and determination of both the Temora community and military aviation enthusiasts, who have been led by Sydney businessman and former Australian aerobatic champion Mr David Lowy.

It was indeed fitting that just 10 years ago a decision was made to locate and develop a military aviation museum in Temora. That decision was consistent with Temora’s aviation history in the Second World War, having been home to the No. 10 Elementary Flying Training School established by the Royal Australian Air Force in May 1941. No. 10 EFTS was the largest and the longest-operating flying school established under the Empire Air Training Scheme during World War II, and it was always focused on the safety of aviation for the Australian people, pilots and all those involved in aviation.

Throughout World War II more than 10,000 personnel were involved at the school, with upwards of 2,400 pilots being trained there. The great majority of the graduates served either in Australia or overseas in the European or Asia-Pacific theatres. At its peak the Temora unit contained a total of 97 de Havilland Tiger Moth aircraft. Four satellite airfields were set up around the Temora district to cope with the demand to train RAAF pilots. I often meet ex-RAAF officers and men who are based in Temora, and invariably they mention the hospitality they received when based in this mid-sized country town which was focused on aviation safety and security.

No. 10 EFDS ceased operation on 12 March 1946, making it the last World War II flying school to close. Since then Temora has continued its aviation heritage, becoming the preferred airfield for a growing number of sport aviation activities, including gliding, parachuting and recreational flying—all with an emphasis on aviation security and ensuring that safety measures are undertaken at every possible opportunity. However, it was the forward-looking decision in 1999 to establish the Temora Aviation Museum that has had a significant impact on both the town and the commemoration of the deeds of the men and women who served in the RAAF in World War II and in the Korean and Vietnam campaigns. The museum’s hangar facility was completed in February 2000 and the donations of the first aircraft followed. The museum was opened for public viewing in June 2000, and construction commenced in late 2000 on the exhibition buildings containing the display space, a theatre, an admissions entrance, a gift shop, a children’s playground and a picnic area. These were completed and opened to the public in August 2001, at no cost to the government, to enthuse and attract people to aviation, the safety of which is paramount in Australia.

Stage 3 of the museum complex was completed in November 2002 with the opening of a 1,980 square metre display hangar. All aircraft are housed in this new hangar, with the original hangar becoming a customised engineering and maintenance facility focused on aviation safety. Stage 4 was completed in 2007 and includes a specialised aircraft restoration facility, a storage hangar and additional car parking. Since that time the museum has gone from strength to strength. The most recent flying display earlier this month attracted more than 7,500 military aviation devotees—all committed to safeguarding aviation’s future and ensuring that the aviation measures in place meet the expectations of all government departments. We saw an original Tiger Moth, a Spitfire, a Hudson bomber, a Vampire jet and a Gloucester Meteor all doing their routines in the clear Riverina skies. Australian-made aircraft also featured, with a Wirraway and a Boomerang attracting very keen interest.

It needs to be said that the museum would not have been a success but for three vital elements, including, first and foremost, the vision, passion, expertise and generosity of Sydney businessman David Lowy, the founder and president of the museum. Over a 10-year period he has contributed countless hours of his time in planning and executing the tasks that go with developing a world-class institution—with aviation safety in mind. In the museum’s first decade of operations he has donated more than $30 million to fund the purchase of the items in the collection, the buildings, the plant and equipment as well as the recurrent costs which provide for the specialist technical skills that are needed to maintain military aircraft. The museum employees 23 full-time staff and has an active apprentice program in order to educate the Australian public and the massive visitation to the museum about the need to respect aviation’s past and make its future safe.

Secondly, the unstinting efforts of the Temora community, including its municipal office bearers, have been critical. On each occasion that there is a flying day—and there are eight flying weekends per year—the staff of the museum swells from 23 full-time members to 70 or 80. The difference in numbers is due to the specially trained community volunteers, who manage to handle a crowd which exceeds the entire population of Temora. The museum attracts more than 40,000 visitors each year. They are given a consistent and complete education experience on aviation history and the need for aviation security now and in the future. The museum is a true community partnership. On flying days the food services are provided by the local volunteer fire brigade, with all of the profits being donated to local area charities. To date, approximately $200,000 has been raised and donated.

I would be remiss if I did not acknowledge the work of the RAAF personnel who have so ably and readily assisted the museum. Take, for example, the most recent flying display. The Chief of Air Force, Air Marshal Mark Binskin, was on hand to officiate at the first public flying of the recently restored Sabre jet fighter. I also acknowledge that my colleague in the Senate and senator for the ACT Senator Kate Lundy was in attendance. I welcomed her to the Riverina. The Sabre restoration was a joint RAAF-TAM effort which took more than three years. The RAAF technical experts assisted the TAM crew in the complete rebuilding of this aircraft. In addition, over the years RAAF personnel and others, as part of their recreational flying, have donated their time to pilot the museum’s aircraft and explain to the many aviation enthusiasts and the general public across Australia the critical requirements for aviation safety.

It is important that the members of this parliament take an active interest not only in civil aviation—as we have seen today with the amendments that we have put forward—but also in military aviation and this particular military aviation museum, as its importance extends well beyond the township of Temora. The museum is an active reflection of Australia’s air defence history and Australia’s commitment to safety for its pilots, whether they be used in military defence personnel or in civil aviation history. Australia, as a large and mainly uninhabited island continent, needs a strong air force to protect its shores, and also to protect those who are assigned to be its defenders whether on land or sea. This is what we are particularly focused on with the Temora Aviation Museum, or TAM, as I have previously referred to it.

As well as preserving our historical Australian military aircraft in flying condition, the museum goal is to pay tribute to those Australian men and women who have served in the defence of our country. In this regard I would especially draw to members’ attention the homecoming on 31 August 2009 of the last of those young Australians who went missing in action and failed to return from the Vietnam War. Young aviators Pilot Officer Robert Carver and Flying Officer Michael Herbert were flying a Canberra Bomber with a call sign Magpie 91 when it went missing on 3 November 1970. I commend to members the moving speech of the member for Charlton and Minister for Defence Personnel when he addressed the repatriation ceremony at Richmond Air Base, which was attended by relatives, friends and colleagues of the deceased. For those of you who watched the repatriation ceremony on national television, the aircraft positioned just behind the minister was Temora Aviation Museum’s Canberra Bomber, currently the only operational Canberra Bomber in the world. The museum provided the aircraft for the ceremony at Richmond Air Force Base. The aircraft was piloted by Air Commodore Rod Luke, a retired RAAF pilot.

Finally, it is important that any young Australian who aspires to join the armed forces be able to see in action the equipment used by previous generations in defence of Australia. This tangible reminder of our history is something that should be sustained if we are to maintain the culture of service in defence of one’s country and its citizens. Accordingly, I offer an invitation to all members to visit my electorate and go to Temora to witness the work that has been done to recognise the contribution of our past and present Air Force personnel. It is just a two-hour drive from this parliament and a drive which you will find well worth while.

In speaking to this bill today, I would suggest that everything that is undertaken at the Temora Aviation Museum is designed with a focus on the future of aviation security. I commend this bill to the House and I commend to the House the much appreciated efforts of all of those involved with the advent and the successful operation of the Temora aircraft museum.

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