Malcolm Turnbull (Wentworth, Liberal Party) Share this | Hansard source

I am delighted to rise in support of the member for Cook’s motion today. Residents of Wentworth took on substantially increased aircraft noise in 1996, when the Sydney Airport Long Term Operational Plan, or LTOP, was established. As a consequence of the LTOP, Wentworth residents received two new departure flight paths and about 30 per cent of all take-offs.

In mid-2008, at the Sydney Airport Community Forum, my office was advised by Airservices Australia that in order to undertake runway upgrades—known at the Runway End Safety Area—Airservices Australia would implement from late 2008 a new runway configuration. Known as mode 15, this configuration directed increased departures over suburbs in Wentworth. However, we were assured that mode 15 would only be used for the specific period of the Runway End Safety Area works, and would then be discontinued.

It was with alarm that residents in my electorate read recently in both the Sydney Morning Herald and the Wentworth Courier that mode 15 could potentially be reintroduced. Last Friday, the minister for transport, Mr Albanese, announced at the Sydney Airport Community Forum that the mode 15 option remains on the table. This is not what we were told in mid-2008. It is very disappointing, considering our community’s preparedness to accept increased levels of noise during the airport upgrades. Mode 15 does not meet the objectives of the 1996 LTOP and the principle of fair and equitable noise sharing. I have written to the minister requesting that he clarify, as a matter of urgency, this position on the continued use of mode 15.

There were further concerns at the same Sydney Airport Community Forum last Friday. Members were given a brief presentation by Airservices Australia on new technology soon to be introduced to Sydney Airport. This system, called required navigation performance, has the potential to channel aircraft down corridors as narrow as 30 metres wide and to concentrate noise over a fewer number of flight paths than currently exist. A study is to begin into the environmental and noise implications of this technology; but, alarmingly, the recommendations will be the culmination of the findings across 28 airports in Australia and will not exclusively address the unique situation of Sydney Airport. No other airport in Australia confronts the same problems of aircraft noise as Sydney, with such a high density of residential development in such close proximity and the sheer numbers of commercial aircraft movements. At the meeting, the minister called for a cooperative approach to aircraft noise problems at Sydney Airport. If that is the case, this is not the approach he needs to employ. He needs to start listening to potentially affected residents and to those who represent them.

This brings me to my last point: the position of Aviation Community Advocate. If the government wanted to ensure that the interests of residents affected by aircraft noise in Sydney were given due consideration, then the single most useful thing it could do would be to reinstate the position of Aviation Community Advocate. The myriad issues arising from the operation of an airport are complex and are getting even more complex. It is unreasonable to expect any single member of the Sydney Airport Community Forum to be able to locate, monitor and research the reams of information that the operation of an airport of the magnitude of Sydney generates and to then evaluate in a timely manner the impact on local communities and to engage directly with the local communities. That is truly a full-time job, and correctly it is the role of the Aviation Community Advocate, a role the current minister sees little benefit in maintaining. He argues that no other airport has an aviation community advocate and that there are no funds available. Well, there is $1.6 million remaining from the airport noise levy program, funds which should continue to be used for the mitigation of airport noise. The role of the Aviation Community Advocate is in substantial measure devoted to reducing the impact of aircraft noise on residents, and these remaining funds should be released to reinstate immediately this vital position.

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