Stephen Bates (Brisbane, Australian Greens) Share this | Hansard source

BATES () (): I move:

That this House:

(1) notes that:

(a) the Government has released an Aviation Green Paper projecting a tripling of flight volumes by 2050;

(b) since the opening of the new parallel runway at Brisbane Airport, that airport is now by far the most complained about airport in Australia;

(c) increased large aircraft traffic and light aircraft flights are already posing significant noise issues for people in Melbourne; and

(d) the Prime Minister and the Government support a curfew and flight cap on Sydney Airport; and

(2) calls on the Government to:

(a) support a curfew and flight cap on Brisbane Airport;

(b) accelerate the development of high speed rail to provide competition to the aviation industry, and reduce noise and pollution impacts on communities; and

(c) address the aircraft noise concerns of people living in Melbourne.

Airservices Australia's last annual report showed more complaints for Brisbane Airport than all other major Australian airports combined. Since the opening of the new parallel runway, I've heard from many constituents that flight noise is acutely impacting the community, especially when they're trying to sleep. Former Labor Prime Minister Kevin Rudd said: 'Aircraft noise is a major problem for many people in Brisbane's suburbs. There are increasing numbers of night flights disturbing people's sleep. I believe the only solution is the introduction of a night curfew. Everybody has a right to a decent night's sleep.' Health data clearly illustrates that flight noise has a direct effect on wellbeing and is linked to lower quality of life, poorer wellbeing and psychological ill health. This needs to be fixed. The residents of Brisbane should have the same rights as other Australians—the right to a good night's sleep.

The Brisbane Airport Corporation's ambition is to double flights over the city by 2035. The government's own aviation green paper predicts a tripling of flight movements by 2050. This stands to significantly increase noise, CO2 emissions and air pollution. This is not an issue that is just going to go away. Last week, the Greens secured a big concession from the federal government, which could see hundreds more flights taking off and landing over the water rather than the homes of Brisbane residents.

As a result of Greens and community pressure, the transport minister agreed to direct Airservices Australia to operate both runways at Brisbane Airport over the water at once, when safe to do so, subject to approval from the airspace advisory board. This mode is called 'SODPROPS mode', or simultaneous opposite direction parallel runway operations. SODPROPS mode is not always possible, particularly when weather conditions make it unsafe. However, this commitment secured as a result of Greens and community pressure will mean the government must report clearly to the community on the share of flights going over the water. On occasions where SODPROPS can't be used, the government must report on the reasons why, allowing the Brisbane community to hold the airport and Airservices Australia to account for these decisions.

Once implemented, this concession could see the biggest reduction in flight noise since the opening of the second runway. These kinds of results are only possible because residents in the community have been making their voices heard. I want to say thank you to everyone who has letterboxed, shared petitions, come to rallies, sent emails and helped build this movement. We remain committed to this cause, and we won't rest until we've won lasting protections. We will continue to campaign for a cap and a curfew. By introducing reasonable restrictions, such as implementing a night-time curfew on flights from 10 pm to 6 am, we can sustainably reduce aircraft noise across Brisbane.

Noise reduction mechanisms like this are already in place and providing relief for other communities near airports across Australia, including Sydney Airport, which has had both a cap and a curfew since 1997. Despite recent attacks against communities by the Queensland Deputy Premier, this is not a nimby attitude. In fact, when introducing his private member's bill to tackle flight noise in Sydney, it was the current Prime Minister that said, 'I am tired of those who say this this debate is about inner-city people wanting to dump their problems somewhere else.'

The east coast corridor contains three of the busiest air routes in the world. Instead of tripling flight movements by 2050, we should look to decarbonise our travel and finally build high-speed rail in this country. But, since the sell-off of our major airports and national carrier in the nineties, we've now created an extremely powerful corporate lobby group that has fought to prevent noise protections and fought against high-speed rail in order to maintain their profits.

Ultimately, this fight is led by the community, by people speaking up against the greed of big corporations and speaking up against the major parties that sit in the back pocket of airline corporations. The community is tired of playing by rules for the airports designed by the airports. The Greens will always stand for the community in that fight against big corporations.

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