Gary Humphries (ACT, Liberal Party) Share this | Hansard source

by leave—The coalition and the ACT Liberals do not support the imposition of a blanket curfew on Canberra airport. We are looking at ways to address the concerns of the curfew lobby but do not feel that there is any need to pursue a course that would threaten the economic development of Canberra and Australia as a whole. Canberra airport is the only airport between Brisbane and Melbourne that is currently curfew free, and maintaining that is important to the national infrastructure suite. Noise abatement measures already apply to Canberra and Queanbeyan. Due to wise planning there are no dense urban areas close to the airport, as there are in places such as Sydney, Melbourne and Adelaide. The coalition does not feel that this motion would contribute anything towards the protection of residents and feels that it has much more to do with the ACT election this coming Saturday.