John Murphy (Lowe, Australian Labor Party, Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister for Trade) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

On behalf of the constituents I represent in my electorate of Lowe, I again raise the issue of aircraft noise in Sydney’s inner west. My constituents will not easily forget the long history of the mismanagement of Sydney airport by the Howard government. They will not forget the coalition’s worthless announcement that it would not sell the Sydney airport ‘until there is a satisfactory solution to the current aircraft noise problem in Sydney’. As it turned out, the former government sold Sydney airport without fixing aircraft noise problems. Worse still, the former government sold the airport without placing any caveats on the airport’s new owners with respect to noise reduction or community engagement. It is appalling that, since the airport is no longer operated or owned by the government, the direct line of responsibility has also faded.

The owners of Sydney airport have previously treated my constituents with disdain. The former government’s culture of indifference significantly contributed to the airport’s cavalier attitude towards my constituents. Nowhere was this better demonstrated than in the handling of Sydney airport’s runway safety enhancement project. On 27 November 2007, just two days after the federal election, Sydney airport announced that the work on the runway end safety area would result in the closure of the east-west runway for a period of not less than 15 months. The east-west runway is essential for a fairer distribution of noise at Sydney airport, and my constituents well know the implications for increased noise of the closure of that runway. Despite the very obvious impact of any closure on my constituents, the project was concealed from all of us by the Howard government.

The owners of Sydney airport would do well to note that there is no culture of indifference within the Rudd government to the suffering of the residents in the inner west. We now know that the work on the east-west runway is necessary to minimise the harm to passengers in the surrounding area in the unlikely event of an aircraft overrun or an aircraft that lands short of a runway. Importantly, I am pleased to report that my colleague the Minister for Infrastructure, Transport, Regional Development and Local Government, Anthony Albanese, has responded to my constituents and to the Sydney Airport Community Forum, of which I am a member. The minister has imposed conditions requiring the full availability of the east-west runway during critical periods after eight months—not the 15 steadfastly proposed by Sydney airport. As someone who lives directly under the flight path, I too know firsthand the impact the construction phase will have. That is why I applaud the minister’s prompt intervention following the last federal election and his commitment to arrest Sydney airport’s agenda.

The people I represent in Lowe deserve much better than to have Macquarie Bank and Sydney Airport Corporation Ltd run roughshod over them. The minister has already demonstrated his commitment to opening honest lines of communication within the community about proposed developments at Sydney airport. But my constituents have suffered long enough and I will continue to push for a fairer distribution of aircraft noise. Despite the best efforts of the former government to destroy our drive, the positive action of the new minister strengthens my resolve and that of the Sydney Airport Community Forum to continue fighting each challenge that Sydney airport presents to us. That resolve was plain for all to see when I attended last Friday’s Sydney Airport Community Forum’s meeting, and all of the members at that meeting are firmly committed to fair aircraft noise distribution. (Time expired)