[Peetwo]

Having been laid up for a while with time on my hands, I was doing a lot of reading and listening. Amazing what you find and hear. Bits and pieces from newspapers, magazines and other media, some concerning aviation, some not necessarily about aviation but very relevant where parallels can be drawn to illustrate just why aviation regulation is so screwed up.

Opening gambit from News.com.au, confirmed that my suspicion the quoted cost of Sydney's new western airport appeared just a tad overinflated.

Julia Carlisle
Australian Associated Press

High-flying businessman John Wagner says he could build Sydney's second international airport for much less than its touted $6 billion pricetag.
Mr Wagner and his brothers were behind the Brisbane West Wellcamp Airport near Toowoomba that opened late 2014, the first major airport to be built from scratch in Australia since Melbourne's Tullamarine in 1970.
The airport, with its 2.87km runway capable of handling aircraft as big as a Boeing 747, took 19 months and 10 days to build, and cost $200 million.
Mr Wagner says he could build Sydney's Badgerys Creek airport in three years.
"We just can't see that it would cost that much, and the high-level work that we have internally here would indicate that it shouldn't cost that much," Mr Wagner told ABC on Tuesday.
The federal government last week committed to building the Badgerys Creek airport after Sydney Airport Corporation, which operates the existing Mascot airport, walked away, citing "considerable" risks.
"It is a vitally important project for western Sydney, for Sydney and the nation," Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull said in a statement.
Earthworks on Sydney's second international airport are due to start next year and is likely to be operational by late-2026.
Last year Infrastructure Australia costed the first stage of the Badgerys Creek airport at $5 billion.
Further details are to be outlined in Tuesday's federal budget.

I guess this just confirms that anything the Bureaucrats get mixed up in ends up costing the poor old taxpayer far more than it should.

& from ABC News online... :

Badgerys Creek: John Wagner says his firm could build western Sydney Airport in three years
AM
By David Coady
Updated about 4 hours ago
Tue 9 May 2017, 11:12am


Photo: John Wagner hopes to win the tender for the building of the new Sydney airport. (ABC News: Matt Eaton)
Related Story: Why building Sydney's second airport has fallen to the Government
Related Story: Government steps in to build second Sydney airport at Badgerys Creek

Map: Badgerys Creek 2171

The businessman behind the last airport to be built in Australia has said he could build Sydney's second airport in just three years and believes the cost estimate by the Government is excessive.

John Wagner told the ABC's AM program he could not understand why the estimate for the Badgerys Creek airport was as high as $6 billion.

Mr Wagner was the driving force behind the Brisbane-West Wellcamp Airport near Toowoomba, which opened in November 2014 after a frenetic construction that cost just $200 million.

The latest cost estimate for the new Badgerys Creek airport will be revealed in tonight's budget.

Mr Wagner said he was concerned at the time the Government may take to build the airport.

"I don't think it's inadvisable at all [for the Government to build the airport on its own]," he said.

"But what I am concerned about is because of their procurement process and finances... that it could take a lot longer than it needs to be.

"The reality is with Badgerys Creek, it could be going in sort of three years from now if everyone was of a like mind and actually wanted it to happen that quick. And I believe it should happen that quick."

'We're a bit miffed at that number'

Mr Wagner said he found it hard to believe the estimate, saying it "shouldn't cost that much".

"We're a bit miffed at that number... but until we're formally asked to tender for it by the Federal Government, we can't make a clear determination on that.

Timeline: Western Sydney airport



A Badgerys Creek airport has been almost 50 years in the making. Take a look back at how governments have grappled with the environmental issues and concerns from residents.

"When it comes to construction, we were very fortunate with Wellcamp [Airport], that we had a lot of material onsite, we worked 24 hours a day, seven days a week. So, we could do it quickly.

"So, it's a matter of really analysing the whole construction site once the documents come out to bid."

But Mr Wagner said he would "definitely" be open to taking on the building and running of the western Sydney airport.

"We would do the construction in a syndicate, and that's the way most of these big projects work,' he said.

"As far as the operations of it go, we could do that very successfully on our own."
As for the rail issue, Mr Wagner said the Government needed to establish the line to Badgerys Creek in time for the airport's opening as it would have a direct impact on the amount of traffic and profitability.

"I would urge the Government to relook at the timing on that. It doesn't have to be 10 years away," he said.

"I think it's important that they can take a much shorter horizon time to build it and get it operational."

Mr Wagner said he did not see Sydney's second airport as a business risk and believed it would attract significant traffic.

By focusing on passenger movement, he said, freight would follow

Developer outlines three-year timetable for second Sydney airport
David Coady reported this story on Tuesday, May 9, 2017 08:20:00

| MP3 download

The businessman behind the last airport to be built in Australia has told AM he could build Sydney's second airport in just three years.

John Wagner can't see why cost estimates are as high as $6 billion.

He was the driving force behind the Brisbane West Wellcamp Airport near Toowoomba.

It opened in November 2014, after a frenetic construction that cost just $200 million.

The latest cost estimate for the airport at Badgerys Creek will be revealed in the budget.


Featured: John Wagner, Wagners chairman

MTF...P2