Page 3634 - Week 10 - Tuesday, 26 August 2008
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MR BARR: I have just outlined my role, Dr Foskey. One thing I am not is a member of the commonwealth parliament—and I am not the commonwealth minister. So I do not have the capacity—nor does anyone in the ACT government or anyone in this place—to seek to mandate a curfew on the airport. Dr Foskey knows that; the Greens know that.
Dr Foskey: Why don’t you lobby?
MR SPEAKER: Dr Foskey, cease interjecting, please.
MR BARR: I have indicated that these matters, most particularly around the planning of airports, have been raised at every planning and local government ministerial council since I have been in this place, and certainly since the time of my predecessors in those particular portfolios. For 11 years, under the Howard government, those matters were ignored. What happened was that even what little control the National Capital Authority had over airport development was removed in that 11-year period.
With the new federal government, we have finally seen some indication that they are prepared to look at these issues, particularly in the context of airport development within local planning frameworks. That is welcome. That is the position that all state and territory governments have put consistently for years.
For as long as the Stanhope government has been in office, we have been arguing this, now with successive federal governments. We look forward to the outcomes of this review. We hope that the federal government will accede to the requests of the states and territories for there to be greater local planning control over airport development, particularly airport development that essentially has a non-aviation basis.
We have seen, not just in Canberra but at pretty much every significant airport in the country, a massive boom in non-aviation-related development. That has been wonderful for the owners of those airports; they have made a lot of money. But at what cost to responsible planning within the regions? That is a question that we have asked consistently and that we will continue to raise with the commonwealth government.
The sort of political grandstanding that we see from time to time from Dr Foskey on this issue suggests that she is desperately in search of any issue—even if it is commonwealth related—on which to score a cheap political point. Again, that is what you expect. It is an election year. No great surprises.
Dr Foskey: How many points did I get?
MR BARR: The fact that she interjects so constantly indicates a certain amount of sensitivity on this issue. It is something that you observe from the Greens. They like to put themselves above politics and say, “No, we’re all innocent and pure and interested in the issues,” but whenever they get called on some of the politics that they like to play, they squeal like pigs. This is what we are seeing. It is a pretty consistent approach. You see this all the time whenever they are called on the politics of an issue.
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