Almost all of the candidates vying for the seat of Riverina in the federal election have assured Wagga City Council they will work to resolve the long-running issues at the city's airport.
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Earlier this month, Wagga mayor Dallas Tout reached out to each of the candidates pleading for them to commit to upgrades and improving council's lease deal for the Wagga Airport - preferably to a peppercorn rental.
Cr Tout said he has received official responses from five of the eight candidates, including the Nationals' Michael McCormack, Labor's Mark Jeffreson, the Greens' Michael Organ, the United Australia Party's Daniel Martelozzo and independent Darren Ciavarella.
"They vary from small responses to large submissions but the consistent response is that the airport needs resolving," Cr Tout said.
The candidates who did not respond to the mayor's request included The Shooters, Fishers and Farmers' Steve Karaitiana, the Liberal Democrats' Dean McCrae and One Nation's Richard Orchard.
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The mayor said he would prefer to focus on the candidates who did respond rather than those who did not.
"What I'm focusing on is the formal responses we did get, particularly from Labor and Greens which were quite substantial," he said.
Last week, Riverina MP Michael McCormack promised to splash $20 million upgrading the Wagga Airport's runway, terminal and parking spaces - but only if the Coalition was re-elected on May 21.
Cr Tout said none of the other responses offered to match the $20 million.
"There was no funding in any of the submissions but no matter who is in government or who our local member is, Wagga City Council will work with them to get a resolution," he said.
The poor quality of Wagga Airport was cited as the key reason the city was left off Bonza Airlines' regional expansion last month.
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