John Murphy (Lowe, Australian Labor Party, Parliamentary Secretary to the Leader of the Opposition) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Sydney airport’s aircraft noise problems just get worse for the people whom I represent. The reason is the failed aviation policies of the Howard government. Media reports over the last two weeks alone are flooding in over the continued development frenzy of Sydney airport, in particular the conduct of Mr Max Moore-Wilton, once adviser to the Prime Minister, then Chief Executive Officer and General Manager of Sydney Airport Corporation Ltd and now a director within a Macquarie Bank subsidiary.

The conflict of interest could not be more obvious, as I pointed out in the House yesterday and today. In the Sydney Morning Herald on 4 February 2006, Ms Sherrill Nixon reported in an article entitled ‘Airport retail plan turns a deaf ear to noise limits’. The report stated:

A noise map in the Sydney Airport master plan showed the site earmarked for the 60,000-square-metre shopping centre was not suitable for a commercial building …

The map shows that by 2023, when 68.3 million passengers and 412.,000 aircraft are expected to use the airport, the site would be exposed to noise levels between 35 and 40 ANEF—

which are unacceptable—

for public buildings.

An article by Paddy Manning in the Weekend Australian of 11 February entitled ‘Developers take off’, reported:

The furore—

that is, over the expansion of Sydney airport and other designated airports—

is only going to worsen as Transport Minister Warren Truss moves to amend the Airports Act to put beyond dispute that airports are free to develop all manner of non-aviation facilities on their 99-year leaseholds.

The condoning by this government of the expansion of Sydney airport takes to a new level the betrayal of the people of Sydney. This government has turned Sydney airport into 900 acres of greedy, profit-feeding frenzy and totally unregulated works on land which, if it were state government regulated land, would in all likelihood fail basic environmental planning laws and would be refused consent. This government is shamelessly pandering to its mates at Sydney Airport Corporation Ltd.

The Weekend Australian notes that these developments are permitted to occur with no approvals at all and that there is a rising tide of anger over the minister for transport’s arrogance and flagrant disregard for the public interest. A further report by Sherrill Nixon in the Sydney Morning Herald of 4 February, titled ‘The sky’s the limit’, notes that Sydney airport is being billed as a playground where everything from shopping to a cinema complex is being proposed. A cinema complex at an airport? This is pure madness. The Sydney Morning Herald also reports that there is even a proposal for a waterfront leisure centre. I agree with the comments of the New South Wales Minister for Planning that the ethic of Sydney airport and Max Moore-Wilton is a ‘willy-nilly, stuff-you attitude’.

The patience of Sydney has run out with Macquarie Bank, who rip us off with their tolls to and from the airport, then rip us off again and again when we are at the airport. It is time Macquarie Bank, the millionaires factory, realised that it has moral responsibilities. It is a disgrace, and this government is fully responsible for the self-serving conduct of Macquarie Bank on Sydney airport land at the expense of the public interest and the people I represent. I do not resile from anything I said in the House yesterday or today in relation to Mr Max Moore-Wilton and the venal behaviour in relation to this issue. (Time expired)