Federal transport bureaucrats admit a newly approved 20-year master plan for Brisbane Airport will lock in aircraft noise contours based on legacy flight paths, omitting ongoing trials designed to protect residential areas.
During a Senate estimates exchange, Shadow Minister for Infrastructure and Transport Bridget McKenzie Bridget McKenzie, grilled Sarah Nattey, Assistant Secretary of the Department of Infrastructure’s Airports Branch, over why a preliminary draft of the blueprint ignored current noise-sharing investigations.
The admission means Federal Transport Minister Catherine King has just signed off on a two-decade aviation roadmap without factoring in critical trials aimed at directing more flights over Moreton Bay.
“The community is wanting to understand what input the trialling of those strategies will have in the master plan sign-off,” Senator McKenzie said.
Ms Nattey confirmed the master plan contours rely solely on existing flight paths because Airservices Australia’s broader Noise Action Plan remains incomplete. She deferred technical questions to the airspace agency.
Senator McKenzie demanded an implementation status for the 21 recommendations generated by a recent Senate inquiry into aircraft noise, which called for stronger noise management and improved community consultation.
Officials were unable to detail what steps the Albanese government had taken to execute the changes, offering instead to take the question on notice.
The Department could provide no data to prove whether ministerial directions to increase simultaneous opposite-direction parallel runway operations had actually reduced community noise complaints.
The committee also heard that Minister King has failed to attend a single meeting of the Brisbane Airport Community Airspace Advisory Body since its inception, instead sending Nattey.
“Please meet with this community,” Senator McKenzie told the government bench.
“They want to know that their government hears their concerns.”
