Today is a great day for Central Queensland with the official opening of the Alliance Airlines Maintenance Hangar at Rockhampton Airport.
When first elected as Federal Member for Capricornia it was clear there was enormous potential to make Rockhampton Airport the gateway to Capricornia.
“This project has been on the books since 2018. I was approached by the then Mayor Margaret Strelow and Scott McMillan from Alliance who asked for $25 million to do the early stages of what is now this magnificent project.
After pondering a strategy as to how to get the money it was then that I had a brain wave. I remembered there was some Federal money sitting unused for the levee bank project which was not going ahead.
It took some relentless lobbying at Parliament House and in May 2021 at Beef Week then Deputy Prime Minister Michael McCormack announced that I had transferred the $25 million through the Community Development Grant Fund and a further $21 million via a NAIF loan for the $60 million project.” Ms Landry said.
Also delivered by the Coalition when in Government was around $20 million of funding for the
much-needed upgrades and redevelopment to Rockhampton Airport.
The Alliance Maintenance Hangar has already delivered hundreds of local jobs and once fully operational it will employ around 100 people. “This facility will create new businesses and job opportunities in other aviation related services such avionics, aerospace technologies, wheels, tyres, brakes and landing gear, engine maintenance, interiors and upholstery, and cabin accessories suppliers.” Ms Landry said.
This is a key piece of infrastructure that will help solidify Rockhampton’s economy, while also attracting millions of dollars of investment into our region.
It is expected that around $342 million will be delivered back into our economy over the next 30 years.
