Forget submissions closing last Friday on our $160 million Operational Plan and Budget for the next year or Ignite our Centre ideas or even the most significant reform of Local Government since 1993, Fit for the Future, all anyone has been able to talk to me about since the announcement on Friday morning is the fact that we will have direct flights to Brisbane within six weeks.
This is one of those classic cases where the community has spoken loud and clear and Council has no direct power to control an outcome – but we can try our best to influence an outcome. Ultimately any business decision – such as starting a new route – will be made by a business based on their ability to make the venture profitable. Unless Council was prepared to completely underwrite a new route and move into being a pseudo-airline operator (we weren’t) then we were never going to be able to force an airline to start operating.
What we did though was start a process of influence. If I wind the clock back several years, it was not long into my time as Mayor that I made it clear that I wanted to try and influence an outcome for travel to other major ports. I met with QantasLink on 3 February in 2012 in Sydney. I flew to Brisbane on 14 March 2012 to meet with Virgin. I met with the entire board of Rex on 30 May 2012 at their headquarters. I met in Sydney with the boss of a start-up called RiviAir on 3 July in the same year and then he came to Dubbo for a meeting on 10 July. On 20 March in 2013 I flew to Brisbane with the Deputy Mayor, Ben Shields, and met with Virgin again and we also met with JETGO for the first time. On 3 April 2013 I met with the boss of Airport Coordination Australia to discuss the possibility of more slots for Dubbo. On 11 April 2013 I met with RiviAir and Rex in a joint meeting. On 15 July 2013 we arranged for ConnectJet to meet with Councillors to discuss the possibility of reduced Airport Passenger fees for a new route. Fly Orana agreed to sponsor the Tour de OROC that started on 7 October 2013. Throw in countless phone calls and e-mails with the aforementioned seven airline operators in addition to discussions with other airports; Chambers of Commerce; Mayors and more and you start to form a part of the picture of how difficult it is to influence rather than direct.
The final decision made by JETGO was based on two components. Firstly, they could see a profitable route. Secondly, although we were not the preferred destination for a new route they wanted to start, the enthusiasm and willingness to work with an airline helped influence the final outcome. Ultimately this is a great move for Dubbo and I would like to think that Council helped the process to the final outcome.
Don’t forget the next Mayoral Developers’ Forum is on tonight at the Milestone.
Councillor Mathew Dickerson
Mayor of the City of Dubbo