Originally Posted by
mr flappy
I'm not sure what happened elsewhere when the Howard government sold off the airports
I wouldn't try to make this a political issue, since the planning and initial implementation was done by the Hawke and Keating administrations, starting in April 1994. The actual (Phase 1) sale was completed in July 1997 after tenders were called by the Keating government. Both sides are equally incompetent when dealing with Australian Aviation.
I flew two Keating ministers back to Tullamarine who were happily chatting away about what a marvelous residential development they had planned for Essendon Airport, unaware that the intercom included the driver. Since one was the Transport Minister Laurie Brereton and the other was the Deputy PM, Brian Howe, I wasn't too impressed with their commitment to general aviation.