[Peetwo]

Regional Airports starved for Federal Funding?? - 

Albo and the insipid Miniscule DK put at risk the essential services and infrastructure provided by regional airports, including DK's own local airport.

Via the other Aunty...  : https://www.abc.net.au/news/2023-09-18/r.../102860646

Local ratepayers may not realise they're the ones keeping the airports afloat — and despite their financial support, they often run at a loss.

One example is the airstrip with a 70s brick block terminal on the edge of Ballarat, a regional Victorian city with a population of about 100,000 people.

This airport doesn't take commercial passenger flights. But the local council, which runs and owns it, says the region would be worse off without it.

"We do see it as a really valuable asset to our community," Mayor Des Hudson says.

"It's certainly not part of the three Rs that most people think local government is about: roads, rates and rubbish."

Local governments own and operate hundreds of airports around the country, but many operate at a loss and rely on ratepayers to stay in the air. Councils say more funding is needed to support their community's "valuable asset". A new report by an advocacy group for regional local governments has found there are 200 regional airports owned and operated by councils nationally. An estimated 60 per cent — or 120 airports — operate at a loss, Regional Capitals Australia (RCA) found, and many are dealing with ageing and insufficient infrastructure.

And the response from Albo and Dicky King...

In a statement, the federal government says it "recognises the important role that aviation plays [in] regional and remote communities" and it is currently consulting broadly through its Aviation White Paper.

Ah yes the White Paper and...

The GA DOOMSDAY CLOCK continues to go TICK..TOCK!   

MTF...P2