Ben Morton (Tangney, Liberal Party) Share this | Hansard source

Aircraft noise is an important issue for my local community, just like it is for my neighbour the member for Swan and his community. Our residents share similar concerns about the impact of aircraft noise, particularly noise later at night and early in the morning. This is an important motion, and the member for Swan is absolutely correct. The approval of a third runway at Perth Airport is the opportunity to review flight paths in Perth that includes fair and constructive consultation with our community. This consultation should, of course, include communities currently impacted by aircraft noise, but it must also be with the wider community. Fair sharing of aircraft noise is a necessary solution as air travel for work and holidays increases, and one thing that we must acknowledge is that aircraft noise is part of 21st century living.

With federal and state approvals now in place, proper flight path planning for the third runway can commence, which should include a review of all flight activity in Perth and the impact of noise on our communities. Perth Airport is a critical piece of WA's economic infrastructure, and that's why I don't support a curfew on Perth Airport. I've ensured that my position was made clear on this point and that it was public prior to my election.

Aircraft noise and the planning around metropolitan airports and their flight paths are complex issues, but that doesn't prevent us from fairly sharing and reducing noise. As technology increases, especially in navigation equipment, planes are now flying much more closely to a more consistent track, rather than spread across a path. This creates a concentration of the noise. As technology improves even more, there can be options of having multiple tracks used at different times of the day to reduce the concentration and frequency of noise in particular locations. It's about sharing the noise, and this is something I'm very keen to investigate further.

I have been working with Airservices Australia and the federal minister for transport to investigate the installation of a permanent noise monitor located at Shelley Reserve to cover those planes that travel over Shelley, Riverton, Rossmoyne and Applecross in my electorate, and over the suburb of Salter Point in the member for Swan's electorate.

The City of Canning supports the insulation of the monitor in Shelley. It's important that Airservices Australia has the best data possible when they consider the impacts of aircraft noise in our community. Airservices Australia's Review of the Perth Airport Environmental Monitoring Units said that a permanent EMU 2 could potentially be relocated to optimise the Noise and Flight Path Monitoring System.

To improve overall system coverage, EMU 2 could be relocated west of its current location to cover a larger portion of residential receivers.

The recommended zone for the relocation of this noise monitor centres around my electorate and the suburb of Shelley. Shelley, particularly, is impacted by a high concentration of jet departures off the main runway and noise from approximately 25 per cent of total departures. EMU locations have been unchanged since the system was established in 1994; however, flight paths have changed significantly. By having a permanent noise monitor base at Shelley Foreshore, we'll be able to better understand and record the impact of noise in my local community.

We all hope for a lift in the WA economy, and we're seeing signs of that occurring now. Like our mining sector, we should always use this lull to make sure the next upswing is managed better. I'm encouraging Perth Airport to consider differential pricing that incentivises airlines to more daytime flights and fewer flights in the middle of the night and very early morning. Differential pricing can also be applied to noisier aircraft, just like in other airports around the world, encouraging airlines to use quieter aircraft.

I'll continue to work with my community, Airservices Australia and the minister on aircraft noise in my community. I want to thank the Shelley Noise Action Group for their professional advocacy on this issue in my local area. It's a decade since flight paths were altered in Western Australia, and a review is well overdue—a review that will properly plan for the third runway at Perth Airport, a review that will make sure the impact of aircraft noise in suburbs like Shelley, Riverton, Rossmoyne and Applecross in my electorate is properly understood and the proper actions are taken to make sure we can fairly share and reduce aircraft noise.

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