Warren Truss (Wide Bay, National Party, Minister for Transport and Regional Services) Share this | Hansard source

It is my understanding that scheduled services cannot arrive before 6 am. In an emergency, occasionally the curfew has to be broken, and from time to time there is a process whereby a special permit can be given to allow an aircraft to land, but, my word, that is exceptionally rare. It is not something that we would allow easily. My understanding is that some freighter aircraft, low-noise aircraft, are allowed to approach over the bay during certain times, but there should not be any scheduled services.

From time to time, I get letters from people who are upset about aircraft noise, and each of those instances is investigated. We usually send back to the constituent details about what happened on the particular day, including flight plans and paths for aircraft, so they can have an understanding of what has actually happened. I would be concerned about the issues raised by the honourable member and, if he could give me some names, dates, times and details, I will certainly follow it up.

The honourable member has raised Fort Street High School with me previously. I can appreciate that there are concerns about noise in areas where aircraft are operating. Obviously, new generation aircraft are much quieter than their predecessors. There are no marginally compliant aircraft operating in Australia anymore; they all meet the new standards. Essentially, we have a better environment now than there has been in the past. The honourable member, because he represents that area, would know even better than I that the insulation that has been provided was limited to areas where particular noise levels occurred, and the Fort Street High School does not fit within that category. It would be possible, as the honourable member suggests, to lower the criteria and then deal with all of the buildings that fit within the new criteria. That would require a substantial extension of the levy, which is getting close to the point where it will expire. Indeed, it may involve extensions for as long as 50 or 100 years. (Time expired)

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