Sharryn Jackson (Hasluck, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Hansard source

I can agree in some large part with the sentiments expressed in the resolution that has been put forward by the member for Pearce. I understand that the changes to aircraft routes are having an impact on some Hills residents due to an increase in traffic along those routes during the past few months. For many, particularly those who had experienced no aircraft noise, this is having a significant and deleterious impact on them and on their lifestyles. I also agree with some of the concerns that have been raised about the consultation process with residents prior to the implementation of the route review. I believe it was inadequate—a matter that I have raised with the Minister for Infrastructure, Transport, Regional Development and Local Government asking for improved consultation processes in the future. I have also written to the Civil Aviation Safety Authority concerning the details of how consultation should occur when there is any review of aircraft routes. In addition to that, a number of steps are being taken by the local Perth Airport Aircraft Noise Management Consultative Committee to address these concerns.

It is clear that the consultation process was lacking, however unlike perhaps the member for Canning, I do accept that route amendments were required to deal with both congestion and with air safety concerns at Perth Airport. In the past five years there has been a 60 per cent increase in air traffic at Perth Airport. I was also informed, as a member of the Perth Airport Aircraft Noise Management Consultative Committee, that a situation had developed whereby aircraft were sharing two-way approach and departure routes, at times heading towards each other but at different heights. These conditions were clearly unsustainable and were a safety threat. It was to address these concerns that Airservices Australia was required to conduct a Western Australia Route Review Project, WARRP, which took place between 2006 and 2008. This resulted in the implementation of the route changes in November 2008.

As a member of parliament elected in November 2007, I was invited to join the Perth Airport Aircraft Noise Management Consultative Committee early in 2008—a situation I suspect is similar to that of the member for Swan. This committee is made up of representatives from local, state and federal governments, along with representatives of Perth Airport, Airservices Australia and local community groups. This committee meets three to four times a year and it is the role of elected officials to represent the views of their constituents regarding aircraft noise in those meetings. I have raised concerns similar to those that have been aired tonight in previous meetings and I will continue to do so.

By the time I joined the committee in 2008 the WARRP project was well under way. Unfortunately, the committee, in my opinion, had not been fully briefed about the impact of the review and certainly not in the three meetings that I attended. For example, we were given maps of where the new aircraft routes were likely to be but they did not include information regarding suburbs or the likely impact on noise levels. This is clearly unsatisfactory.

I do want to point out, though, that the consultation process was established by the previous government. So it is a bit rich for members of the opposition to be so critical of both the current government and the bureaucracy. Indeed, I wonder where the member for Pearce and the member for Canning were when the previous Liberal government decided to establish brickworks in the middle of a residential area, on airport land, which to this day continues to upset my constituents who have to live with the pollution. I wonder where the Liberal Party was when those decisions were being made.

This motion also ignores the current steps that have been taken by the government—in particular, the issues paper that was published early in April 2008, the substantial consultation that has taken place since then, the publication in December 2008 of the green paper on the future of the aviation industry in Australia and even greater community engagement and greater transparency in decision-making. I would urge them to become involved in that process because I think they can add value to that. In the meantime, it is important for both them and me to work together in a bipartisan fashion to ensure that our constituents and their concerns are appropriately regarded by the relevant agencies and authorities.

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