‘Hypocritical’: Why Brisbane airport noise residents are turning on Albo

A speech Anthony Albanese gave more than 20 years ago is coming back to haunt him as the Brisbane Airport flight noise fight turns on the Prime Minister.

Residents impacted by airport noise are calling Prime Minister Anthony Albanese hypocritical for his government opposing a cap on flights from Brisbane’s second runway, when he advocated for a similar plan for Sydney when he was first elected.

It follows the release of a report into flight noise from Brisbane’s second runway, which recommended directing more flights over Moreton Bay, but did not consider a curfew or cap on flight numbers as advocated for by some residents and the Greens MPs.

Prime Minister Anthony Albanese. Picture: Charly Triballeau/AFP

Mr Albanese’s first speech in 1996 called for “lower the number of aircraft movements” in Sydney’s inner west, where his seat of Grayndler is located, before moving a private member’s bill seeking to cap the number of flights from the airport.

“Despite policies of sharing the noise, there is no doubt that thousands of residents in my electorate are still subjected to excessive aircraft noise,” Mr Albanese said at the time.

He was also Transport Minister in 2009 when the then-government released an Aviation White Paper which referred to “the need for a periodic review of the need for a curfew at Brisbane”.

Brisbane Flight Path Community Alliance chairman Marcus Foth said it was hypocritical for Mr Albanese’s government to reject a cap on flights for Brisbane airport when Mr Albanese fought for that issue when he was first elected.

“Our community is consistently asking why Labor is adamant that protections extended to the Sydney community are not being extended to the Brisbane community,” he said.

“The hypocrisy couldn’t be stronger for a Labor MP that came into power on those terms.

“We are puzzled by this hypocrisy.”

Mr Albanese’s office was contacted for comment, as was that of Transport Minister Catherine King.

Brisbane Flight Path Community Alliance chairman Marcus Foth rallying outside Brisbane Airport Corporation against fight noise. Picture: Tara Croser

Ms King on Tuesday said a flight curfew would shorten the lifespan of Brisbane airport.

“(That) mean that we have to bring forward a second airport for Brisbane which is costly and then just transfers a whole lot of noise to a range of other communities and in the process of having to deal with the flight paths,” she said.

Meanwhile, newly elected LNP Member for Bowman Henry Pike, whose electorate takes in the Redlands, pushed back against recommendations from this week’s Trax report into Brisbane airport’s noise issues.

Mr Pike said the reports push for more flights over Moreton Bay just shifted the problem to the bayside and he would push back against any proposals for flight paths which eroded amenity in the Redlands.

“Shifting the problem of aircraft noise on to our bayside community is totally unacceptable to me and to the residents of the Redlands,” he said.

Mr Pike said he was opposed to a flight curfew at the Brisbane Airport.

“We have an important economic opportunity by having a curfew-free airport. We should try to preserve that as much as possible,” he said.