[thorn bird]

“Airports are critical pieces of infrastructure for the economic and social life of the one-third of Australians who live outside our capital cities,” he said.

So regional airports are "Critical" pieces of infrastructure but secondary capital city ones are not.

Hmmm...could it be that regionals do not present a viable target, unlike our secondaries, for the development sharks to corrupt their way into massive short term profits at the expense of industry and the public in general??

Wonder how long before Hyde Park, the botanical gardens and centennial Park are declared "Surplice" land? same principle as used on the airports, the user must pay or lose the asset. Money talks unfortunately, national public good will always be trampled by the avarice of corruption.

Nice to see Bankstown made a 47 Million profit for the year, wonder how much tax they will pay on that? probably about as much as McBank's little rort at the primaries pays....Zilch.

Back in the old days when the aviation industry was "Valued" when our airports were vital public infrastructure those profits were retained by government to reinvest in the airports.
In the modern age, where the public good has been replaced with to hell with the public, political donation good and securing my future after government good, thus those profits disappear siphoned to offshore tax havens. Neither the public nor the industry derives any benefit.