Airport on the brink of collapse

Let me paint you a picture. You live on a beautiful, rugged and remote island. It's the dead of night, pitch-black and dark, and you're having a medical episode that is serious enough that you can't get the help you need on the island. You need to be flown out to get the care you need. But because there's issues with the lights and the technology at the airport, the Royal Flying Doctor Service can't land the medevac unit there. You've just got to hope you'll survive the night until daylight comes and you can get off the island. It sounds like an island somewhere on the other side of the world, but this is the reality for the 900 people living on Flinders Island right now. They need help and they need it right now.

Flinders Island Airport is in desperate need of upgrades. Some of the infrastructure is from World War II. If these upgrades aren't done soon, the airstrip could be shut down. This would cut off essential medical services and freight to Flinders Island. It would also slam the door shut on any tourists who want to go to that beautiful place. We should be encouraging more people to visit beautiful Flinders Island, not making it impossible for anyone to get there. Losing the airport runway would be devastating for the island and people who live there.

The Assistant Minister for Infrastructure, in the other place, has told the council to apply for a round of grants and hope for the best. Flinders Island doesn't have months or another election to wait around for and hope the money will come through. The airport could be shut down at any time because it could be dangerous at any time. Not to mention the grant could probably barely touch the sides of the urgent work that needs to be done. Flinders Island might only have a population of 900, but they shouldn't be left behind because they don't have the care factor of the parliament.