On Tuesday, April 1, Federal Member for Gilmore and Deputy Prime Minister Richard Marles announced Nowra will have its 'chopper on a stick' as plans are in motion for a new life-sized model.
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00:00We've had Richard here before talking about the iconic chopper on a stick and
00:06as a young person that has grown up in this area I know how important the
00:12chopper on the stick is to this community and it resembles and shows
00:17that we are a proud Navy and Defence town. So I'm delighted to announce today
00:22with Richard that the chopper on the stick is coming back in a full-size
00:30replica model which will allow the easy maintenance of the chopper moving
00:38forward. What we know with the previous much-loved Iroquois chopper on the stick
00:43it was actually a real chopper which had the insides there was really no
00:47maintenance plan and it just degraded so quickly. So what we want to do is put
00:53something back that is going to be there for decades to come. So by having that
00:59replica it's a really good way that it'll look exactly the same, the same
01:02size which is just wonderful. But there is a little extra extra here we're
01:08actually going to if we're re-elected also open consultation up and to give
01:13people the choice. Do they want to have the Iroquois helicopter, a much-loved
01:18helicopter or would they prefer to see something more modern which of course is
01:23like our Seahawk Romeo helicopter that our squadron flies today. So if we're
01:28re-elected not only are we going to put the chopper back but we're going to open
01:32that consultation up to people. I'll just say on that when people come into the
01:37town of Nowra I want them to be able to see that chopper and for young children
01:41like I was many years ago to say you know maybe I'd like to consider a career
01:47in defence. Maybe I want to join the Navy or whether it's the Army or the Air
01:52Force. Maybe I want to work in maintenance. Maybe I want to work in
01:56defence industry. So I think it sends a really important signal and what it also
02:01does where it will be located in the gateway at Nowra, it also is part of a
02:07revitalised riverfront. We know that we're doing up the riverfront and I
02:11think this is a really important part of that as well. So we're bringing the
02:16chopper back. This is no April Fool's Day joke either. I must say we really are.
02:21Yeah look people have been fighting for it for so long. I've been part of that
02:26fight with them and yeah I'm just absolutely delighted. Thank you. But we
02:31are very happy to be able to support and announce that the chopper on the stick
02:36will be back. So Defence will pay for this. This is very much part of Defence's
02:43social licence, our acute community engagement. Nowra is a defence town both
02:48with HMAS Creswell of course but HMAS Albatross. This is a real centre of
02:54defence activity and it is a big defence community and so we're very keen to be
02:59able to play our part in providing support, providing the cost for the
03:04chopper on the stick to give the identity back to Nowra which the Iroquois
03:11and its predecessors provided.