Steve Georganas (Hindmarsh, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I rise to speak tonight on an issue that affects thousands of constituents in the Hindmarsh electorate, and that is aircraft noise. I am in continual contact with residents in many suburbs surrounding the airport, especially Brooklyn Park but also many other suburbs such as Cowandilla, Mile End, Richmond, West Richmond, West Beach, Glenelg North and Henley Beach. These residents are constantly in contact with me. They spend hours upon hours listening to aircraft noise and aircraft flying over their homes without any avenue for recourse.

A number of residents I represent have asked the Minister for Transport and Regional Services to answer their questions about aircraft movements at Adelaide Airport, and we wrote to the minister on behalf of these constituents. Unfortunately, as yet we have not received a response from the minister—and it has been well over three months. For the record, these are the questions which remain unanswered: (1) when were the last noise assessments carried out for aircraft arriving and departing from Adelaide Airport; (2) what were the results of these assessments; (3) what are the current flight paths for aircraft arriving and departing from Adelaide Airport; (4) at what time and how frequently do aircraft fly during the curfew; (5) is there a possibility that the current flight paths will be reassessed; (6) will consideration be given to an extension of the Adelaide Airport insulation program and, if so, what residences will the insulation cover; (7) are there any funds left in the Adelaide Airport insulation program that may be used to insulate more houses; and (8) has there been an increase in the number of aircraft flying over residential areas since the extension and the new terminal were created at Adelaide Airport?

I began campaigning for a curfew and noise insulation program initially with the Adelaide Airport Action Group, which is a residents group within the electorate of Hindmarsh, many years before I was a candidate or MP. I had the good fortune of chairing that particular residents group for many years. I have continued to lobby on this issue and I have raised it constantly since I have been a member of parliament. So I am familiar with the struggle for those residents and their rights.

Through the Adelaide Airport Action Group we lobbied very hard throughout the nineties right up to 2000, and we got a curfew introduced. Finally, the Adelaide Airport Curfew Act was established. It imposed a penalty for breach of the curfew. Not that any penalties have ever been issued—it is a bit of a joke; restricted aircraft movements during the curfew do come in. Some flights that have exemptions come in during curfew hours. The act provides for a designated curfew from 11 pm to 6 am with shoulder hours from 11 pm to 12 pm.

The residents wanted a noise insulation program akin to that operating at Sydney airport, but again they had to fight tooth and nail to get it. Finally, in May 2000 it was announced. There were also a number of development issues around the Adelaide Airport. Adelaide Airport, as we all know, is on Commonwealth land and therefore federal legislation overrides state legislation and local government legislation. That means that planning decisions are not subject to the same checks and balances as they would be under the state and local government system. The federal government will not take responsibility for the developments on Adelaide Airport land, even though this is designated Commonwealth land. This is another example of the Commonwealth shirking its responsibilities.

I introduced a private member’s bill earlier this year. I call on the government and the Minister for Transport and Regional Services to allow me to debate the bill, but I assume that my pleas will fall on deaf ears. I have written several letters to the transport minister about these issues and I will continue to do so. The minister continues to ignore the pleas of the residents in those suburbs that I mentioned earlier, and those residents are still subject to noise generated from the grounds of Adelaide Airport and from planes overhead. The minister continues to hide behind the legislation of the Airports Act 1999 and the Airport (Environment Protection) Regulations 1997 and claims that the residents in these suburbs are not eligible for insulation. To take a quote from recent correspondence from the minister:

While I understand your concerns and those of your constituents living near the boundaries, the boundary must be drawn somewhere and the Australian government has made this decision in as fair and equitable manner as possible.

I do not think it is good enough to have insulation of homes in a particular street where one side gets the insulation and the other side does not. Aircraft noise that is generated above those homes is exactly the same if you live on one side of the street compared to the other. (Time expired)