Grant's up at Tweed Heads with his family and was hanging out at Gold Coast International Airport (YBCG) when Steve called to record the Australia Desk segment. The news items discussed included:

• The alliance between Virgin Blue and Etihad has been given preliminary approval by the ACCC so now it's possible to start booking tickets for flights provided under the alliance
• The RAAF's first F/A-18F+ has flown - the F/A-18F+ is an F/A-18F that has had extra plumbing and cabling installed in it so it can be easily upgraded to a Growler if Australia decides to purchase some in the future
• We comment on how the F18F is being used to replace the F-111
• We comment on the status of the MRTT program
• The RNZAF's A4 sale hits another snag as the ATF's approval for sale of the ejection seat charges has expired without the sale being finalised