Gemfrog,
Steve wasn't Fed Sec at that time.
Avalon began as a greenfields site as a result of a collabaration between Qantas, Forstaff and the ALAEA. It WAS originally for overflow work and various checks for other airlines including Air pacific.
It was handy for that and created jobs for over 300 workers from the outset expanding to 1000 after about 5 years.
All engineers began at entry level rates but equal to that rate paid at Qantas. That's not bad for all these guys out of work.