Brian Mitchell (Lyons, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I have stood here before on the issue of the flight path changes at Hobart airport, and it is with some reluctance that I stand again. This issue has still not been sorted out after more than a year of a sham community consultation process with the people of my community.

A final decision on these new routes is expected in January, but I'm standing here today to say that it has to be delayed. We need an inquiry into this process, because these new flight paths have been developed without community consultation and they are going to badly affect the people in the south-east of my electorate. They have never before been subjected to flight path noise, but under these new routes they will have jets flying over at low altitude from as early as 4 am, affecting families, businesses, tourism accommodation and the like.

It's been a sham consultation process all the way along. The aviation ombudsman has slammed the process; it's just been an absolute joke. Absolutely, we need an inquiry into this entire process to ensure that the people of my electorate get the justice they deserve. What we need is an inquiry. We need this process to start again. We need the flight paths to go back to what they were before; they were safe and they were uncontroversial. These new changes have been a disaster. They are no good and it has to stop. Airservices Australia has to get its act together, and we need an inquiry now.