We felt very honoured to have two distinguished guests at the hangar recently. On 31st January, 2012, Senator, the Hon. Michael Ronaldson, visited the hangar with Mr Andrew Elsbury.

Sen. Ronaldson – the member for Western Metropolitan Region - is the Shadow Minister for Veterans’ Affairs and the Liberal Senator for Victoria. He has been a Liberal member of the Australian Senate since July 2005, representing the state of Victoria; and a member of the Liberal Party since 1980.

Mr. Andrew Elsbury is a member for the Western Metropolitan Region in the Victorian Legislative Council (Upper House); elected in November, 2010.

They were not only very interested in the restoration work but they were also interested in the volunteers engaged in the work.

Then, on February 7, 2012, the Senator Ronaldson addressed the Senate informing the member's of the restoration work that we are doing and encouraged all Australians to visit the project.

The following is a copy of his speech.

“Senator RONALDSON (Victoria) (19:14): I rise tonight to inform the Senate of the important work being undertaken in Werribee, in my home state of Victoria, by the B-24 Liberator restoration project, which I had the great privilege of seeing firsthand but a few short weeks ago. Some background to this aircraft is first necessary. The Consolidated B-24 Liberator was a World War II era heavy bomber produced by Consolidated Aircraft in San Diego, California, from 1939. Formed into seven squadrons, the Royal Australian Air Force had some 300 B-24s which, along with the B-17s, formed the basis of Australian bombing support in the Pacific theatre. Of course, these were not the only B-24s which defended Australia—with many more American B-24s deployed to the south-west Pacific area under General Douglas Macarthur. The Australian squadrons are particularly well known for having deterred from moving into the mainland a 50,000-strong Japanese force that had assembled in Timor.

Although the B-24 Liberator restoration project itself has been ongoing since 1995—after the derelict fuselage of aircraft A72-176 was recovered from Moe in Victoria—the push to get an aircraft on public display began in 1988. A two-day meeting arranged by the B-24 Squadrons of Australia unanimously resolved to form the B-24 Liberator Memorial Fund. The foundation committee included Mr Bob Butler, Mr Eric Clark and Mr Terry Lane, with representatives from the RAAF, the Australian War Memorial and the National Trust. The purpose of the fund, as registered, is:

To do all that is necessary to acquire an restore a B-24 Liberator and associated aircraft and artefacts, as a memorial to all those who served with Liberators during WW2, for display in an accredited museum as part of the national collection.

The fund is a not-for-profit organisation and accepts members from the general public. There are many social initiatives, including their monthly B-24 Youth Group—an initiative which I feel represents an outstanding contribution to the preservation of Australia's national heritage. The sharing of experiences with younger generations is crucial to the preservation of their memories, and I commend the project for this imitative.

To this point, the project has acquired some 90 per cent of the airframe and 70 per cent of the furniture and fittings—many having been donated from overseas. It is one of eight remaining B-24s in the world. As an indication of how few this number is, over 18,000 B-24s had been produced by September 1945. The project itself is based in Hangar 2 of the Werribee Satellite Aerodrome, a heritage listed structure constructed during the Second World War to complement the nearby RAAF airfields at Laverton and Point Cook. The project committee are, however, investigating a move to a new hangar, amongst other reasons, because Hangar 2 contains asbestos.

From 1995 to the end of 2011 an estimated 288,000 volunteer man hours went into the restoration of the fuselage—288,000 volunteer man hours. These volunteers come from many and varied walks of life, including not only those who operated and repaired B-24 Liberator aircraft but also many who developed an interest during their working lives and whose skills sets, such as engineering, provide for an invaluable contribution. The Consolidated B-24 Liberator played a leading role in Australian aviation history, and I commend the volunteers for their gargantuan efforts over the last two decades. In the lead-up to Anzac Day 2012, and indeed after wards, I would encourage all Australians to pay the project a visit.

In closing, I thank everyone who shared their experiences with me. I particularly thank Judy Gilbert, the secretary, and Doug Lindsay, the president, and I pay particular thanks to Matt, who was a wartime Liberator crew member. I thank them most sincerely for the time they put aside for my visit. I congratulate those many volunteers, both men and women, who are working on this project and I wish them well for the future."