Pakenham
Australia’s Best Community Newspaper
SMASH SHOCK Hoons leave couple for dead
Connecting people and communities
PRECIOUS TIME Comfort cots allow parents to grieve ve
PAGE 3 Wednesday, 22 March 2017
PAGE 7
A Star News Group publication Phone: 5945 0666 Classifieds: 1300 666 808
$1 inc. GST
What a game! The agony and ecstasy of sport. Pakenham youngster Tom Jones looks on with a heavy heart as a chaotic Kooweerup celebrate one of the most amazing grand final victories in the history of West Gippsland cricket. Turn to Sport for full coverage of what some legendary local figures are describing as the greatest game of cricket played in the last 30 years. 166213 Picture: ROB CAREW
■ Middle-Eastern cash is ready and waiting to build airport ...
Airport standby By Bonny Burrows International investors want to build a multi-billion dollar airport at Kooweerup, despite a lack of local funding. While the State Government has ruled out purchasing land for the local development, a project to build an airport is being pushed in the United Arab Emirates. Melbourne-based businessman Alande Mustafi Safi was last week in Dubai talking with interested parties who had said they wanted to own an airport in Melbourne’s south-east. Gerard Kennedy, a director of Mr Safi’s Paragon Business Group, said while investment was not a given, the overseas businessmen had the capacity to bring the project to fruition. “These people can certainly afford to do it, they want to do it and
they approached us,” Mr Kennedy, who is also Special Counsel at Dandenong law firm Macpherson Kelley, said. “Early planning works” for a third Melbourne airport were featured in the State Government’s 2013 population growth blueprint Plan Melbourne, in the event one was needed in the future. A spokesperson for Planning Minister Richard Wynne told The Gazette last week that demand for the project was not yet there, however “we need to plan ahead for aviation to avoid being blind-sided as Victoria grows”. The Gazette understands a Kooweerup airport would service up to 5.1 million domestic passenger movements annually and create more than 3000 ongoing jobs on completion, comparable to Melbourne Airport.
It is also understood the Victorian Government has eyed an airport for Melbourne’s south-east since 2002, but development would only occur through private investment. Mr Kennedy argued that the market for a third Melbourne airport was already there thanks to the area’s high immigrant rate and international demand for fresh produce. And with the project’s multi-level government support, Mr Kennedy said he was confident that initial investment will eventually come, particularly in light of last week’s media reports. “The Victorian Government has been talking about how badly they want the airport, how the area wants the airport, and that all it wanted was the funding,” Mr Kennedy said. “So, it was really timely for us to show the people in Dubai that the opportunity is very real - that there
is an opportunity here and an opportunity for someone to come and fund it.” Locally, Mr Kennedy said neighbouring shires would benefit from an airport in a number of ways including a boost in tourism and infrastructure. “The fact is if you build an airport the passengers and the freight will follow, as too will the supporting infrastructure such as accommodation,” he said. “It’s really important for the whole of our region; every municipality will benefit with a general uplift of economic activity. “This is a big exercise which is going to put a substantial amount of money in people’s pockets.” Mr Kennedy said that financial investment may not be around the corner but that it was something Mr Safi would keep pushing for.
Gerard Kennedy said investors want to build an airport. “Someone will fund it if the Middle East doesn’t - it’s not a new idea,” Mr Kennedy said.
Footy Lift-Out returns As a new era dawns
PAGES 31-34, 43-46