Bills Digest No. 73, 2016–17
PDF version [598KB]
Sophie Power
Science, Technology, Environment and Resources Section
15 March 2017
Contents
Purpose of the Bill
Background
Airport planning and development
Airport master plans
Major development plans
Proposals for changes to airport
planning
Committee consideration
Senate Standing Committee on Rural
and Regional Affairs and Transport
Senate Standing Committee for the
Scrutiny of Bills
Policy position of non-government
parties/independents
Position of major interest groups
Airports
Pilots
Financial implications
Statement of Compatibility with Human
Rights
Parliamentary Joint Committee on
Human Rights
Key issues and provisions
Airport master planning
Master planning cycles
Australian Noise Exposure Forecasts
Major development plans
Monetary threshold for major
development planning
Increasing the threshold
Future increases in the threshold
What is included in the calculation
of the threshold?
Major development plan timeframes
Public consultation periods
Completion of major developments
Withdrawing major development plans
Date introduced: 1
December 2016
House: House of
Representatives
Portfolio: Infrastructure
and Transport
Commencement: The
seventh day after Royal Assent.
Links: The links to the Bill,
its Explanatory Memorandum and second reading speech can be found on the
Bill’s home page, or through the Australian
Parliament website.
When Bills have been passed and have received Royal Assent,
they become Acts, which can be found at the Federal Register of Legislation
website.
All hyperlinks in this Bills Digest are correct as
at March 2017.
Purpose of
the Bill
The purpose of the Airports Amendment Bill 2016 (the Bill)
is to amend the Airports
Act 1996 (Cth) to adjust processes relating to the preparation of
master plans and major development plans for federally‑leased airports,
including to:
- enable
most federal airports (other than the major airports at Brisbane, Melbourne,
Perth and Sydney) to submit new master plans every eight years instead of every
five years
- ensure
that a new Australian Noise Exposure Forecast (ANEF) is required in each new
master plan
- increase
the threshold that triggers the requirement for an airport major development
plan from $20 million to $35 million and allow the threshold to be increased in
the future via a legislative instrument and
- amend
certain other processes relating to major development plans, such as imposing a
new 15-day timeframe within which the Minister must consider applications for
shorter consultation periods for major development plans.
Background
Airport planning and development
The Commonwealth regulates planning and development
controls for federally-leased
airports through the Airports Act.[1]
A key component of the planning framework in the Airports Act is the
requirement for master plans for all federal airports[2]
and major development plans for major developments at those airports.[3]
Airport master plans
Airport master plans are a ‘20 year strategic vision for
the airport site’ which are currently renewed every five years:
The Master Plan includes future land uses, types of permitted
development, and noise and environmental impacts. The Environment Strategy sets
out the airport's strategy to manage environmental issues within a 5 year
period and beyond. It is the basis on which the Commonwealth measures the
environmental performance of airports and the document by which airport tenants
will determine their environmental responsibilities.[4]
Subsection 70(2) of the Airports Act sets out the
purposes of airport master plans, which include to:
- establish
the strategic direction for efficient and economic development at the airport
- provide
for the development of additional uses of the airport site
- indicate
to the public the intended uses of the airport site
- reduce
potential conflicts between uses of the airport site
- ensure
that uses of the airport site are compatible with the areas surrounding the
airport
- ensure
that all operations at the airport are undertaken in accordance with relevant
environmental legislation and standards
- establish
a framework for assessing compliance at the airport with relevant environmental
legislation and standards and
- promote
the continual improvement of environmental management at the airport.
The Airports Act currently requires that a new
airport master plan be prepared for each federally-leased airport (except for
Tennant Creek and Mount Isa airports) at least once every five years.[5]
This requirement currently applies regardless of the type or size of the
airport's operations.[6]
The Airports Act sets out the required content of
master plans as well as the process for developing master plans. In short, the
airport company is required to prepare and publish a draft plan and invite
comment on the plan from the public, usually for a period of 60 business days.
Information about any public comment received is required to be provided to the
Minister for Infrastructure and Regional Development (the Minister) when
submitting the plan for the Minister’s approval.[7]
Major development plans
In addition, major development plans are required for
major developments at federally-leased airports (except for Tennant Creek and
Mount Isa Airports).[8]
Section 89 of the Airports Act defines ‘major development’ and generally
includes any significant building work or any development with a significant
environmental impact on the airport site. Some developments also have a
monetary trigger before a major development plan is required. This is discussed
later in this Digest. Major development plans must provide details about the
development and its likely effects (for example, on noise, flight paths,
traffic flows and the environment).[9]
As with master plans, a draft version of the major development plan must
undergo public consultation before being submitted to the Minister for approval.[10]
Proposals for changes to airport planning
In July 2014, the Department of Infrastructure and
Regional Development (the Department) circulated a discussion paper on
‘efficiency proposals’ for the master plan and major development plan processes
under the Airports Act. This discussion paper was apparently distributed
to a range of stakeholders, including federally‑leased airport operators,
state and local government authorities, members of airport consultative forums
and the Australian Airports Association.[11]
Following analysis of the 39 submissions from this first
round of consultation, the Department published a second discussion
paper for consultation in May 2015 (the second discussion paper).[12]
The second discussion paper set out a number of ‘recommended better regulation
proposals’, many of which are contained in this Bill, including proposed
amendments to master planning cycles; require an updated ANEF in each new
master plan; increase the monetary threshold for certain types of major airport
developments and provide a mechanism in the Airports Act to allow
airports to withdraw major development projects.[13]
Unfortunately, the discussion papers and the submissions
received in relation to both these discussion papers do not seem to be
currently available on the Department’s website.[14]
Nor is there any mention of the consultation process in the Explanatory
Memorandum to the Bill.
Committee consideration
Senate Standing Committee on Rural and Regional Affairs
and Transport
On 8 February 2017, the Senate Selection of Bills
Committee referred the Bill to the Rural and Regional Affairs and
Transport Legislation Committee for inquiry and report by 28 March
2017.[15]
The inquiry received five submissions on the Bill.[16]
Details of the inquiry are at the inquiry
homepage.[17]
Most airport stakeholders generally supported the Bill,[18]
although some commented on specific provisions in the Bill. Other stakeholders,
such as the City of Cockburn in Western Australia, suggested that there was no
need for the Bill as the current processes are appropriate.[19]
The Australian and International Pilots’ Association suggested that, although
the Bill contains ‘largely uncontroversial machinery amendments’, it should
nevertheless be rejected unless amendments are made to require proper
consideration of developments likely to compromise the efficient operation of
airports by creating operational risks.[20]
These submissions are discussed in further detail in the ‘Position of major
interest groups’ and ‘Key issues and provisions’ sections of this Digest.
Senate Standing Committee for the Scrutiny of Bills
The Senate Standing Committee for the Scrutiny of Bills
had no comment on the Bill.[21]
Policy position of non-government parties/independents
At the time of writing, non-government
parties and independents do not appear to have commented on the Bill.
Position of major interest groups
Airports
As noted in the background section of this Digest, the
Department has conducted two rounds of consultation in relation to the proposed
changes contained in this Bill. Unfortunately, the submissions relating to that
consultation do not appear to have been made publicly available. However, the
Australian Airports Association (AAA) has published its submission[22]
to the Department’s second discussion
paper on its website.[23]
In that submission, AAA commented on many of the proposals to amend the Airports
Act along the lines that are now contained in this Bill.[24]
The AAA welcomed some aspects of the proposed amendments, but considered that
they ‘must be stronger and more substantive’ otherwise they would ‘result in a
lost opportunity for the Government to achieve meaningful and significant
regulatory cost savings for the industry’.[25]
In particular, the AAA welcomed the proposal for the five-year
master plan cycle to be extended to eight years for certain airports. However,
the AAA recommended the cycle be increased to ten years to ‘more closely align
the airport planning process with those of many local and state government
planning authorities, which operate on ten-year planning cycles’.[26]
The AAA also did not support the retention of the five-year master plan cycle
for Sydney, Melbourne, Brisbane and Perth airports ‘without any consideration
being given to the introduction of more flexibility in the current
requirements’.[27]
The AAA noted:
... the development of Master Plan documents is a very resource
intensive exercise that imposes a multi-million dollar financial burden on each
of these airports. Combine this with the fact that the development of a Master
Plan can take up to 2 years to complete—effectively resulting in a 3 year gap
between plans rather than 5 years.[28]
The AAA recommended a ten-year master plan cycle for all
Commonwealth airports, except Sydney, Melbourne, Brisbane and Perth airports,
which the AAA suggested should have an option to review and update their master
plan at the five-year point.[29]
The AAA did not make a submission to the Senate Committee
inquiry into the Bill (discussed earlier). However, other comments in the AAA’s
consultation paper submission relevant to this Bill are discussed in further
detail in the ‘Key issues and provisions’ section below.
According to their submissions to the Senate Committee
inquiry into the Bill, other airports, including Bankstown, Camden, Hobart and
Sydney airports, generally support the Bill.[30]
Some commented on specific provisions in the Bill and these are mentioned in the
‘Key issues and provisions’ below.
Pilots
The Australian and International Pilots’ Association commented
that the Bill contains ‘largely uncontroversial machinery amendments’.[31]
Nevertheless, the Association suggested the Bill be rejected unless amendments
are made to ‘require proper consideration of developments likely to compromise
the efficient operation of airports by creating operational risks’.[32]
More specifically, the Association suggested the Airports Act be amended
to require a major airport development plan where a development is ‘likely to
have significant impact on operational risks to aircraft using the airport’.
The Association was specifically concerned with buildings and structures near
runways that have the potential to ‘create dangerous turbulent wakes in strong
winds, generate or reflect distracting light sources or interfere with
in-flight visibility or critical navigation aids’.[33]
It suggested that some such developments may not currently come within the
ambit of the airport development planning process and that an appropriate
amendment would ‘serve to enhance flight safety’.[34]
Financial implications
According to the Explanatory Memorandum, the Bill has no financial
impact.[35]
Statement of Compatibility with Human Rights
As required under Part 3 of the Human Rights
(Parliamentary Scrutiny) Act 2011 (Cth), the Government has assessed the
Bill’s compatibility with the human rights and freedoms recognised or declared
in the international instruments listed in section 3 of that Act. The
Government considers that the Bill is compatible.[36]
Parliamentary Joint Committee on Human Rights
The Parliamentary Joint Committee on Human Rights considers
that the Bill does not raise human rights concerns.[37]
Key issues and provisions
Airport master planning
Master planning cycles
The Airports Act requires each federally-leased
airport (except for Tennant Creek and Mount Isa Airports) to have a master plan
approved by the Minister.[38]
Section 76 of the Airports Act requires airport‑lessee
companies to submit a new draft airport master plan to the Minister no later
than five years after a master plan came into force. Similarly, section 77 of
the Airports Act currently provides that airport master plans remain in
force for five years.[39]
The Bill proposes to amend these provisions to enable most
federal airports (other than the major airports in Brisbane, Melbourne, Perth
and Sydney) to submit new master plans every eight years instead of every five
years.
In particular, item 9 of the Bill proposes to amend
section 76 to provide that, if a master plan is in force for an airport, the
airport-lessee company must give the Minister, in writing, a draft master plan
for the airport, no later than:
- five
years after the original plan came into force in the case of Sydney (Kingsford
Smith) Airport, Sydney West Airport, Melbourne (Tullamarine) Airport, Brisbane
Airport or Perth Airport and
- eight
years after the original plan came into force in the case of other federal airports
(that is, Adelaide, Alice Springs, Archerfield, Bankstown, Camden, Canberra,
Darwin, Essendon, Gold Coast, Hobart, Jandakot, Launceston, Moorabbin,
Parafield and Townsville airports).
Item 14 proposes to amend section 77, which
currently sets the duration of airport master plans as five years. The
amendment reflects the proposed two different durations: five years for master
plans for Sydney (Kingsford Smith) Airport, Sydney West Airport, Melbourne
(Tullamarine) Airport, Brisbane Airport or Perth Airport and eight years for
all other federal airport master plans.
Item 5 then proposes to insert a new subsection
71(3A) to introduce the concept of the ‘initial period’ of the master plan.
As a consequence of the amendment in item 9, the initial period is five
years in the case of the major airports in Sydney, Melbourne, Brisbane and
Perth and eight years for all other federal airports.
Subsections 71(2) and (3) set out the requirements for the
content of master plans. Some of the required content is specified to be
required in relation to the ‘first 5 years’ of the master plan, while other matters
must address a 20-year planning horizon. Items 1 and 3 contain
consequential amendments to the paragraphs in section 71 which refer to the
‘first 5 years’ of a master plan, replacing them with a reference to the
‘initial period’ to align the requirements with the proposed new periods for
the duration of master plans.
Subsection 72(1) of the Airports Act provides that
master plans must generally relate to a period of 20 years. However, subsection
72(2) currently provides that the environment strategy in a master plan must
relate to a period of five years. Item 8 of the Bill proposes to delete
subsection 72(2), while items 2 and 4 of the Bill then amend paragraph
71(2)(h) and 71(3)(h) which set out the details required in the environment
strategy to provide that the environment strategy address ‘the initial period
of the master plan’. The Explanatory Memorandum suggests that this means that
the wording applied to the provisions relating to the environment strategy
component of master plans will be ‘consistent’ with the other specifications.[40]
Items 13, 14 and 16 of the Bill contain
consequential amendments relating to these new time periods.
As noted earlier in this Digest, the AAA considered in
2015 that the proposed amended master planning cycle was still too short, and
should be ten years for all airports, with an option for the Sydney, Melbourne,
Brisbane and Perth major airports to review and update their plans at the five-year
mark.
Camden and Bankstown airports supported this change,
noting that for Camden Airport, ‘the cost of carrying out a Master Plan equates
to 1.7 years of aeronautical revenue for that airport’.[41]
Australian Noise Exposure Forecasts
Paragraphs 71(2)(d) and 71(3)(d) of the Airports Act
currently require airport master plans to include an ANEF which forecasts
future aircraft noise patterns for the areas surrounding the airport.[42]
The Bill proposes to amend the Airports Act to require
a new ANEF in each new master plan. Item 11 proposes to insert a new
subsection 76(1A) which provides that airports must obtain and include a
new ANEF when preparing a new draft master plan. As the Minister explained in
the second reading speech:
While the Airports Act currently sets out an Australian Noise
Exposure Forecast must be included in a master plan, it does not specify the
Australian Noise Exposure Forecast must be renewed for each new plan.[43]
The Explanatory Memorandum states that this amendment
will:
... ensure each final master plan comprises an up-to-date
representation of the potential noise impacts of airport operations. The
amendment also facilitates integrated and coherent land use planning outcomes;
in particular, to manage incompatible and sensitive land uses from encroaching
too close to airports.[44]
In practice, most airports provide an updated ANEF with
each new master plan ‘even though this requirement is not clearly mandated in
the Airports Act’.[45]
Items 12 and 15 of the Bill contain
consequential amendments relating to this change.
Major development plans
Monetary threshold for major development planning
Section 89 of the Airports Act sets out the meaning
of ‘major airport development’, which in turn triggers the requirements for a
major development plan. For example, it includes constructing a new runway, or
extending a runway. It also currently includes certain construction activities
(such as constructing new buildings, taxiways, roads, railways, or extending
taxiways, roads or railways) where the construction costs of those activities
exceed $20 million.
Increasing the threshold
Items 18 and 19 propose to amend section 89, and in
particular the construction threshold of $20 million. New subsection 89(9)
will provide for a new, increased threshold of $35 million or an amount
determined by legislative instrument.
The threshold amount was last increased from $10 million
to $20 million in 2007.[46]
The Minister suggested in his second reading speech that, since that time,
increases to the construction activity costs and inflation ‘have resulted in an
increased number of on-airport developments unnecessarily triggering the
requirement for a major development plan’.[47]
However, no specific examples are given in the speech or Explanatory
Memorandum.
The Department’s second discussion paper proposed an
increase in the threshold to $30 million.[48]
In response, the AAA considered that increasing the monetary figure to $30
million would be ‘an improvement’. However, the AAA considered that the
increase would not be sufficient to ‘create any material change to the
regulatory burden imposed on industry’:
By the Department’s own admission in the Discussion Paper,
based on a review of MDPs [Major Development Plans] submitted in the 2013/14
period, the number of projects subject to the MDP process is unlikely to be
substantially reduced as a result of raising the monetary trigger to $30
million...[49]
The AAA recommended the monetary threshold be increased to
$50 million.[50]
Sydney Airport supported the proposal to increase the
threshold to $35 million and then to index that amount in future (as outlined
below), noting that the real value of the current threshold had eroded over
time.[51]
Future increases in the threshold
In addition, new subsection 89(10) provides that
‘before each third anniversary’ of the commencement of the subsection, the
Minister may, by legislative instrument, determine a new amount which must be
higher (than $35 million or an amount previously determined by legislative
instrument). In other words, three years after the subsection commences, and
every three years thereafter, the Minister may increase the monetary
threshold for construction activities that will require a major development
plan. Although there does not appear to be any upper limit on the amount by
which the Minister may increase the threshold, proposed subsection 89(12)
provides that the Minister must take into account changes in construction
activity costs since the last determination.
The second discussion paper proposed the inclusion of an
‘appropriate cost inflator mechanism’ to be applied every three years in the Airports
Act to ensure the ‘trigger keeps pace with marketplace costs’.[52]
The AAA supported this proposal.[53]
What is included in the calculation of the threshold?
Proposed subsections 89(12), (13) and (14) set out
the matters that the Minister must or can take into account in determining a
new monetary threshold for major airport developments, including changes in
construction activity costs.
In addition, proposed subsection 89(8) would enable
the Minister to make a legislative instrument to determine the ‘cost of
construction’ for the purposes of calculating the costs that must be included
and excluded in determining whether the construction costs trigger the
requirement for a major development plan. In his second reading speech the
Minister explained:
For example, airports must include costs of base building
fit-out in its [sic] calculations. Base building fit-out includes the internal
cladding to finish off the base building prior to tenancy fit-out. However, the
airport is not required to include tenant specific fit-out costs and tenant
supplied items. This instrument will remove any confusion for industry and
ensure a consistent costing application across all federal leased airports.[54]
Major development plan timeframes
Public consultation periods
Section 92 of the Airports Act provides for draft
major development plans to be published for public comment. The public
consultation period is specified in subsection 92(2A) as 60 business days or
the Minister may approve a shorter period (of not less than 15 business days).
Subsection 92(2B) provides that the Minister may only approve a shorter
consultation period if requested in writing to do so by the airport company,[55]
and if satisfied that the proposed development is consistent with the airport
master plan and ‘does not raise any issues that have a significant impact on
the local or regional community’.
Item 22 proposes to insert a new subsection
92(2BA) which will provide that, if the airport makes a request for a
shorter consultation period, and the Minister does not make a decision on the
request within 15 business days, then the Minister is deemed to have approved
that shorter period. In other words, this amendment imposes a time limit on the
Minister within which he or she must decide on a request for a shorter public
consultation period. The Explanatory Memorandum states:
This amendment will not impact the prescribed requirements
for public consultation, however it will provide industry with certainty
regarding the Ministerial decision timeframe, which could then be accounted for
in the airport’s planning process.[56]
However, currently, the Minister may only approve a
request for a shorter consultation period if satisfied that the proposed
development is consistent with the airport master plan and ‘does not raise any
issues that have a significant impact on the local or regional community’. This
amendment seems to raise the possibility that the Minister could simply not
decide on the request, and then be deemed to have approved the short period,
even if the development is inconsistent with the airport master plan, or raises
issues that have a significant impact on the local or regional community. In
other words, it appears that new subsection 92(2BA) could potentially be
used to circumvent the requirements in subsection 92(2B).
Note also that this amendment does not seem to have been
among the amendments proposed in the Department’s second discussion paper in
2015.
Completion of major developments
Section 94 provides for the Minister to approve airport
major development plans. Under subsection 94(7A), approvals are subject to a
condition that the development be substantially completed within five years
after the approval (unless the approval states otherwise). Subsection 94(7B)
provides that the Minister may extend that period by up to two years. That
period may currently only be extended once, meaning airport major developments
must be completed within seven years.
Item 23 of the Bill proposes to replace subsection
94(7B) to allow the Minister to further extend the period for ‘substantial
completion’ of the major development for up to two years. Under the proposed
amendment, the Minister may extend the period an unlimited number of times, for
up to two years at each extension. The proposed subsection 94(7B) would also
allow conditions to be placed on those extensions.
The Minister stated in his second reading speech:
While the majority of approved major development plans are
completed in the prescribed timeframe, on rare occasions some larger or more
complex developments, such as a new runway, may be subject to unforeseen delays
and exceptional circumstances beyond airports’ control. As a result, achieving
a substantially complete status may require more than the standard seven-year
timeframe.
Where an airport is committed to substantially completing an
approved major development plan, the airport should be given the opportunity to
do so without the threat of legislative penalty. Therefore, the Bill proposes
to remove the restriction on the number of times the Minister may extend the
timeframe for substantial completion.[57]
The AAA supported the removal of the limit on the number of
times airports can apply to the Minister to extend the major development plan
completion period, but suggested it would be preferable to refer to
‘substantial commencement’ instead of ‘substantial completion’.[58]
Withdrawing major development plans
Finally, item 24 of the Bill proposes to add a new
section 96AA to the Airports Act to allow airports to withdraw an
approved major development plan by giving notice to the Minister of its
intention not to proceed with the development if the project has not commenced[59]
and the airport considers that ‘exceptional circumstances beyond its control’
have made proceeding with the development unviable. Under proposed
subsection 96AA(4), the plan then ceases to be in force the day after the
Minister has given the airport a written notice acknowledging receipt of the
withdrawal notice. ‘Exceptional circumstances’ is not defined further by the
Bill, and the Explanatory Memorandum does not give any further explanation or
examples.
The AAA supported the proposal to enable airports to
notify the Minister of an intention not to proceed with an approved major
development project. However, as the AAA noted in 2015, ‘there needs to be more
clarity provided on what constitutes “exceptional circumstances”’.[60]
Further, the AAA did not support the notion that this provision would not apply
in the event that an approved project has commenced. The AAA considered this to
be ‘overly restrictive’, suggesting that a circumstance could arise where site
preparation commences, and a third party then decides they no longer need that
facility. In this situation, the airport would still be required to proceed
with the project because it had commenced. The AAA recommended that this
element of the provision be removed, or that it should ‘stipulate that the
project must have “substantially commenced”’.[61]
[1]. Department
of Infrastructure and Regional Development (DIRD), ‘Airports’, DIRD
website, 9 April 2015. However, note that the land use and planning controls in
Part 5 of the Airports Act do not apply to the federally-leased airports
at Tennant Creek and Mount Isa: see Airports Act, sections 68 and 7.
[2]. Airports Act 1996,
Part 5, Division 3.
[3]. Ibid.,
Part 5, Division 4.
[4]. DIRD,
‘Airport
planning and regulation’, DIRD website, 3 February 2017.
[5]. Airports
Act, Part 5, Division 3.
[6]. DIRD,
‘Airport
planning and regulation’, op. cit.
[7]. Airports Act 1996,
sections 75–81.
[8]. Ibid.,
Part 5, Division 4.
[9]. Ibid.,
section 91.
[10]. DIRD,
‘Airport
planning and regulation’, op. cit.
[11]. DIRD,
Better
regulation proposals: Airports Act 1996: regulatory streamline package,
May 2015, p. 2.
[12]. Ibid.,
p. 2.
[13]. Ibid.
[14]. The
second discussion paper linked to in footnote 11 was obtained from the
Australian Government web archive, not the Department’s website.
[15]. Senate
Standing Committee for Selection of Bills, Report,
1, 2017, The Senate, Canberra, 9 February 2017, p. 3.
[16]. Senate
Standing Committee on Rural and Regional Affairs and Transport, Submissions,
Inquiry into the provisions of the Airports Amendment Bill 2016, The Senate,
Canberra.
[17]. Inquiry
homepage, Senate Standing Committee on Rural and Regional Affairs and
Transport, ‘Airports Amendment Bill 2016 [Provisions]’.
[18]. Bankstown
Airport Limited and Camden Airport Limited, Submission
to the Senate Standing Committee on Rural and Regional Affairs and Transport, Inquiry
into the provisions of the Airports Amendment Bill 2016, March 2017; Hobart
International Airport Community Aviation Consultation Group, Submission
to the Senate Standing Committee on Rural and Regional Affairs and Transport, Inquiry
into the provisions of the Airports Amendment Bill 2016, 21 February 2017;
Sydney Airport, Submission
to the Senate Standing Committee on Rural and Regional Affairs and Transport, Inquiry
into the provision of the Airports Amendment Bill 2016, 3 March 2017.
[19]. City
of Cockburn, Submission
to the Senate Standing Committee on Rural and Regional Affairs and Transport, Inquiry
into the provisions of the Airports Amendment Bill 2016, 3 March 2017.
[20]. Australian
and International Pilots’ Association, Submission
to the Senate Standing Committee on Rural and Regional Affairs and Transport, Inquiry
into the provisions of the Airports Amendment Bill 2016, 28 February 2017.
[21]. Senate
Standing Committee for the Scrutiny of Bills, Scrutiny
digest, 1, 2017, The Senate, Canberra, 8 February 2017, p. 4.
[22]. Australian
Airports Association (AAA), ‘Submissions’, AAA
website, 2017.
[23]. AAA,
Submission to
Department of Infrastructure and Regional Development, Discussion paper—efficiency
proposals: master plan and major development plan, 29 May 2015.
[24]. Ibid.
[25]. Ibid.,
p. 1.
[26]. Ibid.,
p. 2.
[27]. Ibid.
[28]. Ibid.
[29]. Ibid.
[30]. Bankstown
Airport Limited and Camden Airport Limited, Submission
to the Senate Standing Committee on Rural and Regional Affairs and Transport, Inquiry
into the provisions of the Airports Amendment Bill 2016, March 2017; Hobart
International Airport Community Aviation Consultation Group, Submission
to the Senate Standing Committee on Rural and Regional Affairs and Transport, Inquiry
into the provisions of the Airports Amendment Bill 2016, 21 February 2017;
Sydney Airport, Submission
to the Senate Standing Committee on Rural and Regional Affairs and Transport, Inquiry
into the provision of the Airports Amendment Bill 2016, 3 March 2017.
[31]. Australian
and International Pilots’ Association, Submission
to the Senate Standing Committee on Rural and Regional Affairs and Transport, Inquiry
into the provisions of the Airports Amendment Bill 2016, 28 February 2017,
p. 1.
[32]. Ibid.
[33]. Ibid.,
p. 2.
[34]. Ibid.,
p. 4.
[35]. Explanatory
Memorandum, Airports Amendment Bill 2016, p. 1.
[36]. The
Statement of Compatibility with Human Rights can be found at page 2 of the
Explanatory Memorandum to the Bill.
[37]. Parliamentary
Joint Committee on Human Rights, Scrutiny
report, 1, 2017, The Senate, Canberra, 16 February 2017, p. 32.
[38]. Airports
Act, sections 70–83.
[39]. Although
if a new master plan does not replace the original plan, that original plan
remains in force until the fresh plan is finalised and enters into force.
[40]. Explanatory
Memorandum, Airports Amendment Bill 2016, p. 3.
[41]. Bankstown
Airport Limited and Camden Airport Limited, Submission
to the Senate Standing Committee on Rural and Regional Affairs and Transport, Inquiry
into the provisions of the Airports Amendment Bill 2016, March 2017, p. 2.
[42]. See
further DIRD, ‘Aircraft
noise disclosure—avoiding "surprise noise"’, DIRD website,
29 October 2014.
[43]. D
Chester, ‘Second
reading speech: Airports Amendment Bill 2016’, House of Representatives, Debates,
1 December 2016, p. 5135.
[44]. Explanatory
Memorandum, Airports Amendment Bill 2016, p. 4.
[45]. DIRD,
Better
regulation proposals, op. cit., p. 7.
[46]. Item
72 of Schedule 1 to the Airports Amendment
Act 2007. Explanatory Memorandum, Airports Amendment Bill 2016, p. 6;
Chester, ‘Second reading speech: Airports Amendment Bill 2016’, op. cit.,
p. 5135.
[47]. Chester,
‘Second
reading speech: Airports Amendment Bill 2016’, op. cit., p. 5135.
[48]. DIRD,
Better
regulation proposals, op. cit., p. 8.
[49]. AAA,
op. cit., p. 3.
[50]. Ibid.,
p. 4.
[51]. Sydney
Airport, Submission
to the Senate Standing Committee on Rural and Regional Affairs and Transport, Inquiry
into the provision of the Airports Amendment Bill 2016, 3 March 2017, pp.
2–4.
[52]. DIRD,
Better
regulation proposals, op. cit., p. 8.
[53]. AAA,
op. cit., p. 4.
[54]. Chester,
‘Second
reading speech: Airports Amendment Bill 2016’, op. cit., p. 5135.
[55]. Note
that this aspect is being amended in a very minor technical amendment in item
21 of the Bill.
[56]. Explanatory
Memorandum, Airports Amendment Bill 2016, p. 7.
[57]. Chester,
‘Second reading speech: Airports Amendment Bill 2016’, op. cit., p. 5136.
[58]. AAA,
op. cit., p. 4.
[59]. Ibid;
see also proposed paragraph 96AA(1)(b).
[60]. AAA,
op. cit., p. 4.
[61]. Ibid.,
p. 4.
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