Ben Small (Forrest, Liberal Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

The Busselton Margaret River Airport is at the very heart of Forrest, lying there with great potential to diversify the local economy away from being reliant on just mining, and my community is desperate for this government to invest in a terminal upgrade to unlock its true potential. We're talking about not just the people that would come to the region on top of the planes; we're talking about creating opportunities for our agricultural businesses to send their produce directly to world markets underneath those passenger jets. The unparalleled growth of the airport is truly remarkable, from fewer than 20,000 passengers a year some 10 years ago to more than 250,000 now. We're talking about 500 people at a time trying to get through a terminal that only has capacity for 200. Overwhelmingly, these are FIFO workers leaving their families and our community to head off to iron ore mines that are generating billions of dollars of royalties for our nation's prosperity. I think it's only fair that we back them in with a terminal that's befitting of the contribution they make to our economy and, of course, creates those opportunities for international tourism in the region as well. The Prime Minister is very fond of landing his jet at Busselton Margaret River Airport, but not all of us have the benefit of a 737, and those FIFO workers deserve something more.