On 11th February, 2000, Sydney Airport Corporation held a secret briefing for a very select group of conservative friends to gather support for it's plans for Sydney and Bankstown Airport. The meeting was exposed in Federal Parliament by Anthony Albanese, the Member for Grayndler (the electorate bordering Sydney Airport), and first reported to the public by the Sydney Morning Heralds' Robert Wainwright's report.

Albanese's parliamentary speech, Transport Minister John Andersons' press release, and reactions in Bankstown's local paper from local member John Hatton, and Bankstown Mayor Ian Stromborg are presented here for your closer examination...

Albanese Exposes SACL

Mr ALBANESE(Grayndler) —I rise to expose the secret plan given at a briefing of New South Wales country political members by Sydney airport and Bankstown airport authorities last Friday. That briefing was one at which Greg Russell, the Director of Aviation at Sydney Airport Corporation Ltd, proposed excluding prop planes from regional New South Wales from the cap at Sydney Airport so that there could be more than 80 movements an hour there. He also proposed, quite outrageously, moving all regional planes to Bankstown airport, that is, he proposed that the people of regional New South Wales would be treated as second-class citizens and shunted out to the busiest airport in Australia.

It is an outrage. We have a federal National Party Minister for Transport, and we had National Party federal, state and local government representatives there, and yet not one word from them about the briefing which would treat the people of regional New South Wales as second-class citizens has leaked from this meeting. It is consistent also with the approach of Sydney airport, which is to deliver a precision radar monitoring system for that airport. That system will allow an increase in the number of jet movements on the main north-south runway at the airport, which you will need if you intend to simultaneously operate air safety systems and navigation systems between Bankstown and Sydney airports.

It is not surprising therefore that the PRM has met with massive resistance. The government has called a public inquiry. It placed an ad in the Sydney Morning Herald on 29 January. There are 13 council libraries in which information is available yet only one, Marrickville, is within 10 kilometres of the airport. The other 12 locations are north of the Parramatta River at Baulkham Hills, Willoughy, Dee Why, four locations in Hornsby, three in Kuringai, Lane Cove and Ryde. The only public hearings for this are to be held in Gordon and Hornsby. I have a message for the minister: there are people between Sydney airport, the end of the runway, and Gordon and Hornsby. They vote Labor, but that does not mean they do not have a right to be heard. The fact is that a person's hearing is not more sensitive the more money they have. The fact is that this plan to get rid of the cap at Sydney airport, move regional airlines to Bankstown and to run a north-south runway operation with PRM jet movements for 14 hours a day, 80 plus jet movements an hour, is a disaster. It makes a mockery of the Prime Minister's claim that regional services will not be removed from the bush. It is up to the Prime Minister and the Minister for Transport and Regional Services and members of the National Party to come out against this plan. (Time expired)

 

Regional Access to Sydney Airport

The Deputy Prime Minister, John Anderson, has attacked Sydney Airports Corporation Ltd for promoting an option to move regional airlines to Bankstown.

"The Sydney Airports Corporation is way out of line," Mr Anderson said. "The airport is not responsible for making decisions about Sydney’s long term airport needs, and the proposal does not represent Government policy.

"The Government is fully aware of the importance of regional access to Sydney Airport. Sydney has a glittering future as a Pacific Rim city and as a financial centre, but it also has a bread and butter role as the centre of business and government in New South Wales. The people of regional New South Wales must have proper access to their capital city.

"Over the last six months, I have met with many people and organisations from regional New South Wales to talk about the regional access issue. I have made sure that my Cabinet colleagues are aware of their views. I am acutely conscious of the needs of country air travellers."

Mr Anderson said that the Government would make a decision about Sydney’s long-term airport needs in the near future.

"I want to make it clear that the Government will not alter the 80 movements per hour cap at Sydney Airport. We are committed to sharing the noise associated with the airport, and the 80 movements per hour cap is an integral part of our Long Term Operating Plan (LTOP) for the airport.

"I have had extensive discussions about the progress of LTOP with Dr Brendan Nelson, the Member for Bradfield and the chairman of the Sydney Airport Community Forum.

"I am concerned about the persistently high level of movements to the north, and will be pressing Airservices Australia to redouble its efforts to share the noise fairly."

Media Contact: Paul Chamberlin (02) 6277 7680 / (0419) 233 989

Airport Decision Looming

"The Federal Government should stop the phoney war about Sydney's second airport and make a decision," according to a Federal MP.

Federal member for Blaxland Michael Hatton said "It's time for the federal Coalition to make a decision about Sydney's second airport. It's time for the Sydney Airport Corporation Limited to mind its own business [1] and to leave Bankstown Airport alone."

The Federal Government has said it would make a decision about Sydney's second airport soon [2]

The Sydney Airport Corporation recently held a meeting about airport plans and also discussed the proposal to move regional aircraft from Sydney to Bankstown Airport.

Mr Hatton said last week the Sydney Airport Corporation Limited would not let up.

"It's at it again. It just held a brief for 40 local, state and federal government representatives from country NSW,"Mr Hatton said.

"It tried to con them into supporting the establishment of Bankstown Airport as a regional public transport airport. The briefing was aimed at getting their support for effectively expanding Kingsford Smith Airport in a dramatic fashion," he said.

The Sydney Airport Corporation Limited, the Sydney Tourism Taskforce and their associated urgers, wanted to give the Federal Coalition government an easy way out of the decision about the Second Sydney Airport, Mr Hatton said.

The orchestrated campaign of disinformation about the Badgery's Creek option and the dissemination of a variety of options for expanding Bankstown as a regional airport served two purposes, according to Mr Hatton.

The first was to kill off the Badgery's Creek option and therefore leave no alternative but the expansion of Sydney's Kingsford Smith Airport.

The second was to get regional aircraft moved to Bankstown so that another 25 to 30 percent of all aircraft movements at Kingsford Smith could be dedicated to large jets, Mr Hatton said.

"That would mean 25 to 30 per cent more large jets per hour over Sydney and Bankstown. That would mean the inevitable expansion of Kingsford Smith Airport in the future and a dramatic change in the nature of aircraft movements over Bankstown," Mr Hatton said.

Mr Hatton claimed Sydney Airport Corporation was doing the Federal Coalition Government's dirty work.

"If it gets its way, the City of Bankstown would end up with a combination of regional turbo prop aircraft, regional jets and general aviation aircraft. The City of Bankstown would be forced to deal with the impact of this mixed use of aircraft at Bankstown Airport and with the greater impact on the city of a much higher number of large jets operating out of Kingsford Smith Airport" he said.

"It's time for the Federal Government to make a decision about Sydney's second airport, It's time to stop the phoney war and it's time to let Bankstown Airport get on with the job as a general aviation airport," he said.

"As the local Federal Member, I support the existing uses at Bankstown Airport, the businesses operating there and the people employed at the airport. I'm against any change in the operation of the airport as it is currently configured," he said

Mr Hatton said the fuel crisis had severely affected general aviation at Bankstown.

"This has had a dramatic effect on the viability of many businesses. Enough damage had been done to Bankstown Airport and the community of Bankstown by the fuel crisis. Bankstown Airport is being used as a political football by a host of vested interests," he said.

"The Sydney Airport Corporation should be helping Bankstown Airport get back into full operation. It shouldn't be trying to turn it into a sacrificial animal," Mr Hatton said.

Meanwhile, the Deputy Prime Minister and Minister for Transport John Anderson has attacked Sydney Airport Limited for promoting an option to move regional airlines to Bankstown.

"The Sydney Airport Corporation is way out of line," Mr Anderson said. "The airport is not responsible for making decisions about Sydney's long term airport needs and the proposal does not represent government policy [3]."

"The government is fully aware of the importance of regional access to Sydney Airport. Sydney has a glittering future as a Pacific Rim city and as a financial centre but it also has a bread and butter role as the centre of business and government in NSW. The people of regional NSW must have proper access to their capital city," he said.

"Over the last six months, I have met with many people and organisations from regional NSW to talk about the regional access issue. I have made sure that my cabinet colleagues are aware of their views. I am acutely conscious of the needs of country air travellers."

Mr Anderson said that the government would make a decision about Sydney's long-term airport needs in the future.

A Bankstown Airport Limited spokesman said there was no secret meeting about turning Bankstown into a regional airport,Instead, it was an annual meeting where people from the country were told what was going on at Sydney's Airports, he said.

The talk of it being a secret meeting was "nonsense," he said.

"It was an update to people from the regions," he said.

There were four Federal Government options for airport configurations in Sydney discussed at the meeting.

They were:

• do nothing
• building a full blown airport at Badgery's Creek
• taking turbo prop engines out of the cap at Sydney Airport
• turning Bankstown into a regional airport.

But at the end of the day, "it's a government decision," he said

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Meeting Outrages Mayor

The mayor of Bankstown, Cr Ian Stromborg, has said he was outraged to hear that a $40 million proposal to turn Bankstown Airport into a regional hub was discussed at Sydney Airport Corporation's private briefing recently.

"I find it absurd that a private briefing was held and major upgrades to Bankstown Airport were discussed, yet at no stage were Bankstown's mayor, council or community involved. The briefing was made to 40 state and federal conservative MP's, regional mayors and council staff - yet Bankstown representation was completely overlooked," Cr Stromborg said.

"It is unthinkable that such changes be discussed without consulting the most obvious stakeholders -the Bankstown community. Bankstown Airport is located in a residential area and community involve-meat and consultation is essential on issues relating to any major changes in operations at Bankstown Airport, such as those being proposed."

Cr Stromborg said he was displeased about the Federal Minister for 'Transport John Anderson's delay in resolving the issue.

But, "I am confident that the privately devised and discussed plans will have no bearing on the decision before cabinet. Conversely, the decision has been long awaited and the Minister should he condemned for allowing the issue to fester for so long," he said. "I am determined that as mayor, I will not support any proposal which will adversely affect our residents. Moving regional aircraft to Bankstown would place further stress on local roads and could increase air and water pollution as well as affecting the health and lifestyle of the community.

"Most people accept existing operations but council will oppose any proposal which further erodes the lifestyles of our residents or the local environment," he said.

Bankstown Councilor Max Parker said a regional airport in Bankstown would boost the local economy. -"A regional airport here would create a lot of jobs and a lot of work for industries around Bankstown. Hotels and motels around Bankstown would be running at full capacity," Cr Parker said.

"The regionals would be flying to Melbourne [4], Brisbane and Canberra - we'd have a link with the major cities of Australia. It would be a major boost to the economy of the city," Cr Parker said.

"There'd be less noise from the international traffic coming from Sydney. The transport links would have to be built up as well. It's got some downsides and a lot of upsides," he said.

Bringing regionals to Bankstown would "bring a lot of money into our community and save the nation as a whole a lot of money if they didn't have to do Badgery 's Creek," he said.

Regional, Interstate, and International Bankstown

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