Here is my report from the Brisbane hearing of the Greens-secured Senate inquiry into the impacts and mitigation of aircraft noise. It was heartening to see that the hearing room was packed with so many people who had given up their Monday to support their fellow community members providing testimony.
Brisbane Flight Path Community Alliance (BFPCA) and Community Member Testimonies
First and foremost, I want to thank BFPCA and all community members who attended the hearing, and particularly those who spoke. It’s not easy sharing such personal stories with a Senate inquiry.
Many people spoke about how they had no issues with noise before the opening of the new runway, and some even described how they had attended information sessions and been reassured that there would be no negative impacts on them. As one speaker put it, the flight noise came to them, even after they’d made a conscious choice to live further from the airport.
Testimonies described a range of impacts since the opening of the new runway: poor sleep, families separated, and serious health issues caused by the noise.
Particularly heartbreaking was the story of one woman from Upper Brookfield here in Ryan, who described how her kids had to stay with relatives to be able to study for exams, and her struggles in trying to sell her property due to its location under an obvious flight path - despite being over 30km from the airport.
The level of technical knowledge in the community was also a credit to BFPCA and everyone else who spoke, and clearly made an impression on the Senators. It’s simply not fair that because ASA, BAC and the government haven’t been doing their job that community members have had to spend hours learning the intricacies of flight paths, regulations, noise measurements, and runway operating modes. Nonetheless the community has assembled this knowledge to make a compelling case for change.
Airservices Australia clearly culpable, but also an easy scapegoat for Brisbane Airport
Probably the biggest theme of the day was that almost all witnesses had some criticism of the way Airservices Australia (ASA) is currently operating. This was well articulated and it was also clearly the view of all Senators present that real change is necessary.
However, the criticism of ASA was so prevalent that it became effectively an excuse for the clear failings of other witnesses. This was most obvious in Brisbane Airport Corporations’ (BAC) testimony, where their communications failure on the New Parallel Runway was explained away as relying on outdated assumptions about the use of SODPROPs - including the infamous quote by the BAC CEO in February 2020 that flights over the city would ‘decrease’. I understand Greens Senator Larissa Waters has submitted further question to BAC about the timing of this decision - we won't let them off the hook.
BAC admits negative effects on regions of potential curfew exaggerated
You’ve probably heard Brisbane Airport talk of doom and gloom for regional Queensland if community demands of a curfew and cap on flights were implemented. Under pointed questioning from Greens Senator Larissa Waters, they conceded that with slot allocation that prioritises regional flights, this problem could easily be overcome. They even admit in their own submission that prioritising larger, more profitable flights to ‘maximise revenue’ is in fact the problem:
At present, there is an even spread of flights across morning and evening peaks. At curfewed airports airlines tend to prioritise larger aircraft in periods adjacent to closure times, to maximise passenger throughput and revenue. This means smaller aircraft, which generally support regional flights, have reduced access to runway slots.
We know that the aviation industry and the major parties like to divide people by geographical boundaries for political gain, so I think it’s extremely important to point out that it is in fact for-profit corporations that are the problem for regional Queenslanders, not Brisbane residents just needing some peace and quiet.
Without a curfew, Brisbane Airport are forecasting a massive increase in night flights - so sleep disruptions are only going to get worse. Earlier in the hearing, tourism industry representatives conceded that a lot of the late night arrivals and departures in Brisbane are a result of curfews at international airports protecting those communities - so Brisbane residents are clearly getting the short straw.
BACAGC and AAB clearly not fit for purpose
The two community advisory bodies gave evidence at the inquiry and clearly showed that their role isn’t to advocate for solutions that actually get implemented, but instead to placate the community and lower their expectations of any outcomes being achieved.
The Chair of BACAGC admitted that he hadn’t consulted the elected community representatives about either his written submission or appearance at the hearing. He also showed little empathy for the frustrations of community representatives at the repeated stonewalling by the aviation industry.
Particularly in light of the excellent submission from Ms Tess Bignell, who is one of the community representatives on AAB, the Chair of AAB was more candid in saying that he did not think their Terms of Reference were adequate and their role should be reassessed. Ms Bignall’s submission was scathing of AAB and noted among many other things that the Terms of Reference only allow AAB to consult on implementation of the Noise Action Plan, and cannot discuss other matters such as health.
The Chair of AAB also revealed he had never even met the Transport Minister, only ever meeting with Departmental staff. In contrast, later in the hearing we heard from tourism industry representatives, the airlines and Brisbane Airport that they have had no troubles getting a meeting with the Minister.
Future hearings
ASA will be questioned at a future hearing and I have no doubt that Senators will have some tough questions for them.
Greens Senator Larissa Waters also placed a number of questions on notice for several of the witnesses, due back by early May, so I will be sure to provide updates when these come through.
This report only scratches the surface of what occurred on a very long day, so if you have any specific questions about the inquiry or the witnesses who appeared, feel free to get in touch and someone from my team will get back to you.
If you’d like to hear more from us and get involved in our campaign, sign up on this page to receive email updates from me about the campaign against flight noise.