"Sydney Airport's sell-off a 'sell-out' over noise"

Wednesday, June 26, 2002

Airport's sell-off a 'sell-out' over noise
By TORY MAGUIRE
Australia - The Sydney Daily Telegraph


THE sale of Sydney airport to a private consortium will lead to increased
noise, opponents of the deal said yesterday.

Despite assurances yesterday from Transport Minister John Anderson that the
present operating restrictions would remain, aircraft noise campaigners said
the new owners would be forced to increase traffic for commercial reasons.

Mr Anderson told Federal Parliament the Southern Cross consortium, which
bought the airport for $5.6 billion, would abide by current practices,
including the curfew and cap of 80 movements an hour.

He also all but ruled out the building of a second airport in the future to
take pressure off Kingsford-Smith.

"The change in ownership will not mean changing the existing operating
arrangements at the airport," Mr Anderson said.

"Southern Cross have fully recognised and built their very attractive bid
around the Government's policy position, that remains intact."

However, Member for Lowe John Murphy, whose electorate takes in areas around
the airport, said the Government had broken its promise to hold on to the
airport until it had fixed aircraft noise problems.

"[Southern Cross] will have to use the north-south runways more to cope with
the next generation of aircraft," Mr Murphy said.

Consortium member Ulrich Stucke said Southern Cross would not need to
increase movements beyond the regulation 80 an hour but would increase
passenger numbers by welcoming bigger aircraft.

Marrickville Mayor Barry Cotter was also critical.

"The reality of that sale is it's going to mean less [public] control over
one of the most significant polluters in Sydney," Mr Cotter said.

"Privatisation makes you increase the through-put of the airport ... more
planes means more noise and more risk."

Mr Anderson said the proceeds from the sale would be used to reduce foreign
debt.

"In net terms, the Commonwealth's debt will be cut by $4.2 billion, which
means that public debt interest payments will fall by about $250 million a
year," he said.

The Opposition yesterday called for some of the proceeds to be spent on
infrastructure.

"The Opposition believes there is a requirement on this generation to invest
in our future infrastructure needs,," Opposition transport and
infrastructure spokesman Martin Ferguson said.

Q&A

Q Who owns the airport now?

A The Southern Cross consortium is a group of business including the
publicly listed Macquarie Airports, the unlisted Macquarie Airports Group,
two European construction firms, HOCHTIEF and Ferrovial Aeropuertos, Abbey
National Treasury Services and two superannuation funds.

Q What will the government spend the $5.6 billion on?

A It will be used to reduce Australia's foreign debt by $4.2 billion, saving
$250 million a year on interest payments.

Q Is it a good price?

A Analysts predicted the airport would sell for $4-5 billion.

Q Will the new owner increase the number of aircraft landing and taking off?

A Southern Cross has undertaken to abide by the cap of 80 aircraft movements
per hour. It says passenger numbers will increase with the use of bigger
planes.

Q What are the airport noise activists' main concerns?

A Marrickville Mayor Barry Cotter predicted traffic would increase in peak
hours, causing residents under flight paths to suffer greater noise daily.
Labor MP John Murphy claims the government broke its promise to retain
ownership until noise issues were resolved.

Q Are regional operators protected?

A The ACCC will ensure fees charged to regional airlines do not rise faster
than the consumer price index.

Q What differences will travellers notice when they visit the airport?

A Differences will be minimal.

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