“The Morrison government needs to establish a strong, independent body, free from any perception of industry capture, to advocate directly to the Minister and hold decision-makers, regulators and the airport operator to account,” Member for Griffith Terri Butler said. 

“We need a strong, independent body that can maintain a permanent focus on abating aircraft noise and related environmental issues,” she said. 

“Too often communities feel frustrated by buck-passing, or by technical jargon and data that just leads to less clarity and more confusion,” Member for Lilley Anika Wells said. 

“Residents who have been affected by noise, whether from the original runway or the new one, want clarity, action, and a fair go,” Member for Moreton Graham Perrett said.

Aircraft noise has long been an issue for people living under the flight paths across Brisbane. Now that the new runway is operating, there’s an additional cohort of affected residents.

The commencement of operations at the new runway has also raised additional issues including residents’ concerns about the quality and accuracy of the information that had been provided to the community.

“The federal government is responsible for aviation. The Liberals and Nationals have been in office for eight long years and I have been raising aircraft noise issues with them since before I was even elected. It’s well past time for them to take action,” Terri Butler said. 

The Morrison government should introduce a permanent, independent community forum that should:

• deal with aircraft noise abatement and related environmental issues and have access to necessary data and technical expertise;
• have broad representation of all areas affected by airport operations;
• be designed to avoid any perception of or susceptibility to industry capture, including by regulators, aviation companies, or the airport operator.

Labor has been advocating for all affected residents on aircraft noise issues for many years. 

Malcolm Turnbull approved the second runway as John Howard’s environment minister in 2007.