Anthony Albanese (Grayndler, Australian Labor Party, Deputy Manager of Opposition Business in the House) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I rise today to again raise issues in relation to the Sydney (Kingsford Smith) Airport. Over the past 10 years I have spoken in this place many times about the impact of aircraft noise on the lives and health of residents of my electorate, the continual breaches of flight curfews and movement caps, the failure of the Howard government to meet its commitment to review Sydney’s airport needs last year, and the inaction of the minister, still clinging to the flawed master plan. I have spoken about schools in my electorate such as Fort Street High School and the fact that kids have their education disrupted up to every three minutes by low-flying planes, yet the school is still not insulated. I have also spoken about flaws in the insulation program around my electorate.

After 10 long years, the government’s arrogant disregard for the residents of Grayndler has now reached new heights. After playing havoc in the skies, this arrogant government now wants to play havoc on the ground as well. The 60,000 square metre mega mall development proposed by Sydney airport will cause chaos in and around KSA. The airport itself cannot even cope with the dramatic increases in aircraft movements—from 225,200 movements per year in 2001-02 to a projected 412,000 movements per year by 2023-24. That is why the master plan was opposed by federal Labor. Add to that mix a mega mall. There will be traffic chaos, and passengers will be stuck in jumbo sized traffic jams when they are due to be boarding a jumbo! The proposed 3,000-space car park is an indication of the development’s enormous scale and of the subsequent massive traffic congestion that will be caused in and around the airport. This is a proposal of gratuitous proportions and must be rejected.

The 60,000 square metre retail complex would be larger than the Homebush Bay Outlet Centre and the Moore Park SupaCentre combined. It would include a supermarket, speciality stores, a 1,500-seat cinema complex and office space. It would move the airport away from its core business—moving people and their baggage safely on and off planes. Make no mistake: this mega mall is not about improving services to travellers but all about exploiting the absence of planning regulations and environmental controls. The development proposal brings broad smiles to the faces of Max Moore-Wilton and others only because of a glaring planning anomaly: the airport land is exempt from local and state government planning controls and—the big sweetener—from developer levies. This is an outrageous flaw in the Commonwealth legislation.

Shopping malls place incredible strain on public transport systems, dramatically increase traffic flows and affect small businesses and residential developments for many kilometres around them. Sydney is already creaking under the strain of stretched infrastructure. The state government has projected that it will cost the New South Wales taxpayer $2.7 billion in road works to cope with the mammoth impact of the proposed mega mall. Local business will lose trade, and streets will be congested. This is a flawed plan, and this arrogant government is more concerned with the link with Max Moore-Wilton and others than with listening to the concerns of residents and business owners in Grayndler.

Since the government sold Sydney airport to the Macquarie Bank-led consortium for $5.6 billion, the taxpayer has continued to pay. However, the $4 trolley hire and $2 taxi surcharge are peanuts compared with the enormous deficit that New South Wales taxpayers and ratepayers will shell out to meet the infrastructure shortfall. That is why both the state government and local councils have opposed the development.

Their submissions also raise a number of other concerns—namely, those of airport security. There is yet to be a risk assessment undertaken of the development’s security implications. In addition to this, the curfew is being ignored at Sydney airport. BA15 is due in at 5.15 am, QF6 at 5.20 am, QF2 at 5.30 am and SQ221 at 5.50 am. All these are breaches of the legislated curfew, passed by this parliament, which states that Sydney airport remain closed to passenger aircraft between 11 pm and 6 am. These are breaches in the schedule, for which Sydney airport has no answer. This development and airport are out of control and are not servicing the needs of the residents and the community around that airport.