Important pieces of aircraft history will be safely housed if Labor is elected to government.
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Whitlam MP Stephen Jones said a Labor government would commit $750,000 towards a new hangar for the Historical Aircraft Restoration Society museum at Illawarra Regional Airport.
The museum has restored and displays about 50 aircraft and is a major tourism drawcard for aviation enthusiasts.
The almost-restored replica of Charles Kingsford Smith's Southern Cross plane will take pride of place in the new hangar if the funding is given to the museum.
"The Southern Cross is a unique aircraft that is a part of not only Australian history but world aviation history and we want to ensure there is a place where it can be worked on and maintained," Mr Jones said.
"We also want to ensure that we have a place where the public can come in and look at it and the other planes on display."
Mr Jones said the air show Wings over Illawarra already brought 50,000 of tourists to the region in one weekend and he hoped the new hangar would encourage more people to come to the museum every weekend.
"The real economic benefit will be the additional tourists it brings to the museum," he said.
HARS president Mr De La Hunty said the hangar would be "unique" and "iconic" and would include a glass wall at the end so drivers passing by could see in.
"To build something over this site will be monumental for the Illawarra and for Australia, and we are excited about the support we have been given," he said.
"Lots of our planes are outside. We have managed to save these planes from being scrapped,
"If we don't get them undercover the weather and climate will take them away."
The hangar will provide a workshop, storage area, display area and a function centre for people who want to have an event in the aviation museum.
A Labor government will match the $750,000 the museum has already raised from the private sector.
Mr De La Hunty said he would like to see the same commitment from the Liberal government.
Volunteers were gathered at the museum to hear the announcement.
"Many have spent a lifetime working in aviation and they are all enthusiastic and give up their time to ensure this great facility is open to the public," Mr Jones said.
One of those volunteers is Alex Brown who worked on restoring the Southern Cross replica. He joined the museum three years ago and helped restore the wing, fuselage and two engines.
"I'm tickled-pink about the announcement," he said. "We are running out of room to house the planes.
"The Southern Cross aircraft will take pride of place [if we get the hangar] and it has been more than 10 years of work to restore it so that needs to be respected."
He said the last thing he wanted to see was the plane deteriorate in the weather.
Mr De La Hunty said Charles Kingsford-Smith flew the real Southern Cross across from America in 1928.
"It was a very historic flight," he said. "It took a weeks to get here and they almost lost it a few times. The aircraft is preserved in a building near Brisbane."
The replica plane was built in 1988 for Bicentenary celebrations so the public could see the plane. It was later badly damaged. The South Australian government gifted it to HARS and once the final two engines are back on the plane it will be flown again.