Newman Government welcomes Parallel Runway
Published Thursday, 10 October, 2013 at 11:36 AM
Premier
The Honourable Campbell Newman
Premier Campbell Newman has welcomed the announcement by Brisbane Airport Corporation that work on the new Parallel Runway is due to begin within weeks.
Mr Newman said Brisbane Airport was the major gateway for business in Queensland.
“The Parallel Runway will provide billions of dollars of economic benefits, create jobs and support our four pillars of resources, construction, agriculture and especially tourism,” Mr Newman said.
“More immediately, during the peak construction phase of the project, the runway is expected to generate almost 2,700 jobs, not to mention 7,800 brand new permanent jobs by 2035.
“Since coming to office, the Newman Government has expressed its views to representatives from Brisbane Airport Corporation about the need to expedite the construction of the runway in the interests of Queensland.
“This announcement is a major step towards improving Brisbane’s infrastructure and dovetails nicely with our plans to build critical infrastructure around Queensland.
“A Parallel Runway will mean more flights into Brisbane and will give the business community the confidence it needs to book seminars, forums and conferences in Brisbane, safe in the knowledge they will arrive on time.
“The tourism benefits will also be great and will help drive our commitment to double overnight visitor expenditure to $30 billion by 2020.
“Tourism already contributes a total of $22 billion every year to the Queensland economy and we’re starting to see some of the fruits of the hard work that we’ve put into promoting Queensland in Australia and around the world.
“Overall visitor numbers are up 10 per cent in the past year – the number of visitors from China alone is up 32 per cent – and this runway will help bring Brisbane Airport up to speed with some of the major airports around the world.”
[ENDS] 10 October 2013
Media Contact: Andrew Blow 0408 912 821
*The Premier will be available to the media to answer questions on the Parallel Runway at 1.45 at the Brisbane Convention and Exhibition Centre.