Avalon funding on the runway

OPPOSITION Leader Tony Abbott says he will "sort out" funding for an international terminal at Avalon Airport, if a carrier commits to fly from there. Visiting Geelong yesterday - and parts of Corangamite, the nation's most marginal seat - Mr Abbott said international flights from Avalon would provide an economic and jobs boost to the region. "If you get a serious, credible commitment for an international service, we'd be silly not to make the money available to facilitate it, but you've got to get the commitment first," he said in an interview at the Geelong Advertiser office. "An airport is a really significant economic multiplier. "Under the right circumstances, there is no doubt that airports can be important economic hubs. Get a commitment and we'll sort it out." The Federal Government has given Avalon the green light to become an international airport, with management seeking an airline and $13 million to build the terminal. Mr Abbott's comments could help entice an airline. should the Coalition be elected on September 7. He last visited the Geelong region in April, telling residents he was prepared to make tough and unpopular decisions to keep a tight rein on the economy. But yesterday in Anglesea, he said: "If elected, I want to be known as the infrastructure prime minister", before announcing a $25 million pledge for the Great Ocean Road in Corangamite. Asked whether that announcement and other recent funding pledges for the seat by candidate Sarah Henderson amounted to pork barrelling, he admitted some funding announcements were "electorally driven". "If we're talking about a hundred thousand bucks here or a hundred thousand bucks there for some local sports facility, you could say that that's, shall we say, electorally driven," he said. The Liberal leader said his team was working on a plan for Geelong that would be released before the election. He said the plan would outline how Geelong would be revitalised under the Coalition post Ford ceasing manufacturing in 2016.