Ian Macdonald (Queensland, Liberal Party) Share this | Hansard source

Australia’s Antarctic Division, and our work in the Australian Antarctic Territory is a real success story for Australia. It is a success story of which the Howard government is very proud and is certainly very much a part of. I remember the controversy over the air flights from the mainland to Antarctica and I am delighted to see that it is almost a reality. I have to give credit to Senator Ian Campbell—my predecessor in the role of parliamentary secretary responsible for the Antarctic back in 1996—because it was Senator Campbell who first looked at the idea and started some work going. In the couple of years that I was in charge of the Antarctic Division we certainly pursued that. It is quite obviously a long-term process, because it is now some eight years after I left the portfolio and the process is almost complete. The flights are, as I understand it, about to start. So congratulations to all of those who have been involved. I know the Antarctic Division have done a fabulous job.