What a shame our politicians – from all sides – did not hold the same conviction when they sold out our national airport infrastructure, only for it to become the ‘play-thing of corporate interests’.

The privatisation of Australia’s general aviation airports has inflicted significant damage on our industry and aviation economy and continues to do so unabated.

For many within the industry, it’s too late, having been destroyed through unsustainable increases in rents, fees and charges, that have skyrocketed since privatisation some 20 years ago.

Over the past two decades, during a time that thousands of industry participants wrote to and called on our various Ministers for Transport – of which the Hon Anthony Albanese MP was one of, where were the strong voices of opposition to privatisation then? Where were the calls to protect the interests of Australian’s dependent on access to our airport assets?

Both sides of government have ignored the warnings and pleas of our industry, with countless businesses and individuals driven broke and out of aviation entirely.

Both sides have been almost silent with respect to the damage inflicted and neither have stood up to the privatised profiteering and financial rape we have all been subjected to.

Australia’s airports are very much a national asset, and aircraft owners and pilots have been alienated from their access and use – all in the interests of corporate profits.

Like Sydney Harbour and a vast array of other community and public infrastructure, our airports are a precious resource too and they should NEVER have been allowed to become the play-thing that they now are for profit-hungry privatised owners.

AOPA Australia is proudly standing up for our industry and highlighting the political hypocrisy which we are enduring.