A senate estimates hearing has exposed critical gaps in the data underpinning Brisbane Airport’s approved 2026 Master Plan.
Greens Senator Steph Hodgins-May forced the Department of Infrastructure to place five pivotal operational matters on notice.
Assistant Secretary of the Department of Infrastructure’s Airports Branch, Sarah Nattey, confirmed the department had delivered its final briefing package to Infrastructure Minister Catherine King, but could not confirm key facts regarding the plan submitted by Brisbane Airport Corporation this January.
Under cross-examination, Ms Nattey took five key questions on notice:
• What documents were included in the final ministerial brief for the Master Plan decision
• Who endorsed the N60, N65 and N70 supplementary noise maps given to the public, which were excluded from Airservices’ core ANEF endorsement
• Which two years of actual flight and noise data were used to calibrate the modelling system, and why those years were chosen
• Whether the approval relies on the 19-year-old 2007 Environmental Impact Statement, with Ms Nattey admitting, “I can’t recall the date of it”
• What work has been done to confirm that the 2007 assessment’s assumptions and impacts remain valid for operations into the 2040s
When pushed by Senator Hodgins-May to explain how the Commonwealth verified the accuracy of the airport’s noise modelling, Ms Natty shifted responsibility to the air traffic regulator.
“It’s the role of the airport to develop the noise exposure forecast,” Ms Natty said. “It’s the role of Airservices to review them and endorse them. That would be a question for Airservices.”
