The Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister for Defence, Dr Brendan Nelson MP, announced today the appointment of the Hon Don Hayward as Chair of the Point Cook Steering Committee.

Mr Hayward is currently Chairman of the Zoological Parks and Gardens Board; a member of the Advisory Board, Australia Pacific Airports Corporation and a director of Abigroup Limited. He was a long serving Member of the Victorian Parliament from 1979 until 1996 and served as Minister for Education from 1992-96.

Also joining the Point Cook Steering Committee will be senior representatives from the Wyndham City Council, the Department of Premier and Cabinet, the Victorian Department of State and Regional Development, Heritage Victoria, the Department of Transport and Regional Services and the Department of Defence.

The Committee’s role, envisaged to take up to 2 years, will be to determine a master plan for Point Cook to include management of heritage aspects of the site including the Royal Australian Air Force Museum, while ensuring environmental values of the site are not diminished and that the site remains an operating airfield.

At the first meeting of the Point Cook Steering Committee today, Dr Nelson welcomed members of the Committee and outlined the complexity of the task ahead.

‘The development of the master plan for the future of the Point Cook property is to be a genuinely consultative process. I can assure you there are no predetermined outcomes, other than noting that it will continue as an operating airfield and the RAAF Museum will remain,’ said Dr Nelson.

‘It is essential that the Committee ensures the heritage and environmental values of the site are properly identified and protected’

Dr Nelson also said that ‘the Steering Committee will need to consider how to best keep the public informed of what will happen with the site with a well defined communications strategy.’

The Point Cook Steering Committee will move to appoint a planning manager and formally establish a Project Reference Group.