Let me start by acknowledging all invited guests, members of the Waikato Aviation Cluster board, and all its associated businesses.

The manufacture of the 1000^th plane in New Zealand is a milestone, and a milestone of genuine note.

Considering the size and scale of our economy you can easily accept that having any form of aircraft manufacturing is an achievement.

So to have an aircraft manufacturing industry which has sustained itself to 1000 "Made in New Zealand" aircraft is a remarkable achievement.

This is especially so when you look at the history of our economy: upheavals in policy settings, boom-bust cycles,  our relative isolation,  and at times a dollar which looks like more like a roller-coaster ride than a building foundation.

But despite all those economic weather patterns, a small aircraft manufacturing system has managed to sustain itself over a 50-year period.

It is a statement about the quality of the people, as well as a statement on the quality of the aircraft.

Manufacturing actually started in 1954 as a result of the New Zealand Government tender calling for agricultural aircraft to spread fertiliser in our pastoral farming areas.

It has taken 55 years to build the first 1000 aircraft.  The outlook is very different. The next 1000 should be completed in less than half that time.

Virtually all those aircraft have been manufactured in the Waikato region. Let me give you the numbers:

Pacific Aerospace Limited (Hamilton)                   626

Micro Aviation (Hamilton)                                     333

Alpha Aviation (Hamilton)                                      22 

Autoflight (Hamilton)                                             17 

Falcomposite Ltd (Ardmore)                                    1

Rotozone (Tauranga, Auckland)                              1

At its peak, Pacific Aerospace produced 50 aircraft in one year.

You can find New Zealand-made aircraft in Australia, Bangladesh, Sweden, Canada, Chad, the Czech Republic, England, Indonesia, Pakistan, Papua New Guinea, South Africa, Uruguay, the US, and probably many other countries.

There are many other New Zealand companies involved in the aviation supply chain, including some as importers or assemblers of aircraft manufactured offshore. 

We have suppliers to Boeing and Airbus in New Zealand. Pratt and Whitney share a New Zealand location with Air New Zealand.  

We have a rich aviation history beginning with Richard Pearse, who arguably was one of the first to have controlled flight. 

Other aviation firsts include the importation of the first Boeing aircraft ever exported from the US, to an Auckland flying school. 

Altitude Aerospace Interiors, a new Air New Zealand subsidiary, is the first Southern Hemisphere organisation to receive a design approval from the European regulator. 

There are many more firsts to come, with novel designs for aircraft in defined niche applications which can be built in New Zealand, on the drawing boards. 

The production of new titanium based materials, which are very suitable for aviation use, opens many more opportunities for New Zealand companies to improve designs and change the rules.

The Government, through NZTE and FoRST, is actively supporting the aviation industry. 

New capability and capacity is being put in place in New Zealand that will attract other manufacturers here. 

As you mark the 1000^th aircraft being produced I understand this aviation cluster may be at a turning-point. 

You are at a critical mass.    What successful steps you have taken so far would be enhanced if several more manufacturers were established here.

The Government has already done much to help the economy rebuff a financial crisis talked-up as comparable to the Great Depression.

Our job now is to bring the leadership needed to generate substantial growth in our exports and to improve our relative wealth.

Our goals for economic growth are ambitious.

To achieve these, the Government will focus on pragmatic ways to help those sectors that can produce tangible results sectors perform better internationally.

The objective is to sell more high-value products and services in rapidly changing international markets.

There is a wide range of measures we are working on. These include:

• greater depth in capital markets


• redesigning incentives for research and development 


• increasing flexibility in business assistance


• a better approach to selling and marketing our products offshore.

In conclusion, tonight we are celebrating the 1000^th aircraft made in New Zealand as a result of a dedicated group of companies with a passion and drive for their industry.

You have achieved a success which deserves to be rightfully acknowledged.

It gives me great encouragement for the future.

The Government's economic growth framework, your drive, and the opportunities in front of us all point towards a prosperous future.