Labour Turns Skyhawks Into Water Buckets

Heather Roy MP Thursday, October 23 2008

ACT Deputy Leader and National Security Spokesman Heather Roy today revealed that the latex-covered and supposedly water-proofed Skyhawks at Woodbourne Air Base are, in fact, anything but - with the cockpits recently discovered to be mouldy and containing pools of water.

"The ejection seats are so badly damaged that they’re being removed and dis-armed to make them safe. The avionics will also now be totally ruined - not to mention the corrosion in the airframes," Mrs Roy said.

"The Skyhawks have effectively been turned into baths and then saunas: water has pooled in the cockpits and, as the air temperature rises and falls, humidity and condensation will have damaged what were once valuable assets.

"Defence Minister Phil Goff has shown he is totally untrustworthy. Two months ago he claimed that damaged latex would be repaired - it wasn’t. He said a sale would be announced within two weeks - it wasn’t. In a deteriorating world economy, no one wants to buy water-damaged Skyhawks - even in a fire sale.

"This outcome is tragic, but was totally predictable. On the day Labour launched its Defence Policy, the Minister and Prime Minister had categorically shown they cannot be trusted to run our defence force," Mrs Roy said.

ENDS

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