Labor demands Bush plane truth(Australia)

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US President George W Bush's Air Force One damaged the runway when it landed at Canberra airport in 2003, leaving Australian taxpayers to pick up the bill, a parliamentary hearing has been told. Now, Labor wants the Government to release all the details of the damage. The hi-tech Boeing 747 jumbo jet, dubbed the flying White House, was much heavier than most aircraft that land on the runway and caused damage to the pavement. Opposition transport spokesman Kerry O'Brien says the Government must detail the damage done to the runway.

"What really worries me is the secrecy surrounding this matter," Senator O'Brien said. Other military and VIP planes also had damaged the runway but the visit by Air Force One worried the airport owners so much they raised concerns about the weight of the jet with the Federal Government. "We had already reached that (heavy jet) limitation (but) the Government prevailed on us," the airport's managing director Stephen Byron said.

So Canberra airport agreed to allow Air Force One to land and take off from the airport. But Mr Byron said "the entourage" also arrived. That involved 32 heavy jet movements, from a Boeing-747 filled with journalists to cargo planes filled with security for the President. Normally, the runway is capable of taking just one heavy movement every six months. In response to questioning from Senator O'Brien, Department of Transport and Regional Services deputy secretary Mike Mrdak admitted the Commonwealth made "arrangements" to fix the runway damage.

Those arrangements were delivered in last year's Budget, with the Government providing $28.5 million for runway extension and strengthening at Canberra. Bureaucrats fronting the committee denied it was solely the visit of Air Force One that had forced the strengthening work. "It's interesting that after the Bush visit the dispensations (for heavy jet landings) had been discontinued," Senator O'Brien said.

http://www.theaustralian.news.com.au/story/0,20867,19234445-1702,00.html