HOLSWORTHY AIRPORT PROPOSAL
POLITICAL STATEMENTS/PUBLIC OPINION
STATEMENT FROM MP DANA VALE
Mrs VALE (Hughes) (10.54 p.m.)--A matter of grave concern to the people of my electorate was raised in this House today. I am gladdened by the discussion in which the member for Prospect (Mrs Crosio) agreed with me and my constituents in Hughes on the importance of exploring a further possible site, particularly Goulburn, as Sydney's second airport.
My colleagues on this side of the House will
recall that on 21 May this year I requested that an EIS be
undertaken at Goulburn at the same time as the EIS is undertaken
at Holsworthy in my electorate. I attend many public rallies on
this issue. An airport at Holsworthy is the consuming concern of
my constituents and I am often asked: why Holsworthy when it was
ninth on the list of airport sites back in 1985? Why are we not
looking at other sites? Why are we not looking at Goulburn?
With the topic of very fast trains in the media over recent
weeks, the prospect of Goulburn presents a very real possibility
to my constituents. Not only have the people of Goulburn
reportedly expressed a desire to have an international airport
located within their vicinity, but the development of very fast
transport does lend a good deal of sense to a proper
investigation.
I have heard arguments that Goulburn gets fog
bound, but so too does Holsworthy. I have heard that the cost and
difficulty of delivering the necessary Avgas to Goulburn is
great. Yet since 1976 we have had a natural gas pipeline from
South Australia which delivers gas to the people of the city of
Sydney. With modern technology it is anticipated that as early as
2009 natural gas will be piped from Western Australia to the
eastern states. So already in Australia the technology exists to
transport gas over very large distances.
I am totally and utterly opposed to any idea that a 24-hour
international airport might be located at Holsworthy and so are
my constituents. My position on this issue is all the more
difficult because in taking such a stand one is against those on
my side of this House for whom I have respect, high regard and
even warm affection.
Perhaps my position may not be conducive to a successful career in this parliament. But I did not come here for my career; I came here to do a job. I am mindful that I am here and that my colleagues now sit on this side of the House because of the faith of all the people all over Australia. But the people of Hughes also had faith for the first time since 1969, when the present boundaries for the seat of Hughes were created. The people voted for this government.
There is a heavy sense of betrayal, heavy enough to be tangible, angry enough to be expressed in unrelenting protest and it exists in my suburbs in Hughes. After all, we did make certain promises to all Australians before the last election. `For all of us,' we said. `For families,' we said. But my constituents are families too. These are substantially residential suburbs where mums and dads and young couples have invested their lives and their financial security in their homes and in their communities.
We promised for all of us. Yet my constituents are the only people in all of New South Wales who are bearing the burden of the prospect of an international airport. The bushland, environment and green spaces of these suburbs will be detrimentally affected if an international airport is located in their backyard. It is grossly unfair and it is obscenely unfair. There may never be an airport at Holsworthy, but the hardworking families in the suburbs of the west of Hughes already have lost at least $20,000 from the value of their family home, which in the majority of cases is the only asset that they possess.
Ten years ago a decision to investigate Holsworthy would have made good sense, but today there has been significant and substantial extension of residential development in the area. Over 500,000 people now have their homes here. It is also a fair observation that, had the Labor Party shown any political will and clout and completed Badgerys Creek years ago, none of us would be faced with this dilemma today. For today, the air quality and the water quality of the Sydney basin is shown to be under the increasing stress of the intensification of human habitation and activity.
It is bad planning, bad policy and even bad politics to place an international airport in the midst of one of the fastest growing residential areas of Sydney. This may be an exercise in hard-core economic reality, but it leaves little room for people in its ultimate outcome. Such a proposal is an abomination to family life. It would be a shattering experience to the families in my electorate, and I totally reject it.
I fully understand that the airport at Sydney is also a shattering daily experience for the people of Sydney, but is it a solution if, in trying to correct one unbearable situation for one group of people, life is made unbearable for others? The people of my electorate see merit in many of the matters raised by the member for Prospect and, with respect, I believe such matters ought properly be explored.
THE
HOLSWORTHY AIRPORT ISSUE