[Peetwo]

Moorabbin Airport Masterplan - Miniscule Dicky King dodgy decision??

Hansard out, see - HERE - or PDF Version - HERE:

Senator McKENZIE: I want to go to the Moorabbin Airport master plan? Did the minister meet with any Moorabbin airport tenants or stakeholders prior to her making the decision to approve the master plan which was announced on 6 September?

Mr McClure : Certainly not to our knowledge.

Senator McKENZIE: You'd want to know! How, then, could the minister satisfy herself that the master plan was agreeable?

Mr McClure : The minister, for the most part, relied on the briefing that the department provided, based on the assessment of the fresh draft master plan under the Airports Act.

Senator McKENZIE: Were there any changes to the master plan design in the final approved version, compared to the earlier plan that was rejected?

Mr McClure : Yes, there was significant change to the aviation precincts and the types of development that would be permitted in those aviation precincts. Also there was a controversial issue around a fence in one of the zones which was assured and, in the master plan, it says it will stay in place. Through the fresh draft master plan, there was much more certainty around maintaining the aviation precinct as it was.

Senator McKENZIE: I'm assuming you briefed the minister to approve the master plan, despite these significant changes?

Mr McClure : We certainly briefed on the changes from the rejected plan to the fresh draft master plan, and we also briefed on how the fresh draft master plan lined up with the 2015 master plan that was still current, and on how issues around certainty for aviation tenants that that aviation precinct would be maintained had been improved through that fresh draft master plan.

Senator McKENZIE: Is that a long answer saying yes?

Mr McClure : Probably.

Senator McKENZIE: When Anthony Albanese, as minister for infrastructure, rejected the Moorabbin Airport major development plan and the Bankstown and Canberra airports master plans, the reasons were made public. Is there a reason why this minister for infrastructure, unlike the then minister for infrastructure—the now Prime Minister—won't be making the reasons for rejection or adoption public?

Mr McClure : The rejection of the original draft master plan was done by the former minister—the former deputy prime minister.

Senator McKENZIE: You said 2015.

Mr McClure : The 2015 plan is the plan that prevailed until we had the new plan. This minister approved the fresh draft master plan which got published.

Senator McKENZIE: Under the reasons for refusal as outlined in the letter from Deputy Prime Minister Joyce to the Moorabbin Airport Corporation obtained under FOI, one of the reasons was that there was apparently a lack of consultation with stakeholders; is that correct?

Mr McClure : That's correct.

Senator McKENZIE: So, given that all consultation for the 2021 master plan was conducted prior to the rejection of the first draft master plan, how did the department come to the conclusion that adequate consultation had occurred? You've just given evidence that the minister didn't go out on her own and have a few conversations, so we're assuming that all the consultation was done by the department?

Mr McClure : The requirements under the act are that the airport needs to undertake consultation. So, following the rejected master plan, there's no requirement for a further public exhibition period, but there was certainly an expectation, and we got detailed advice from Moorabbin Airport around the consultation they had taken with the stakeholders—state government, local government and others—in preparing the fresh draft.

Senator McKENZIE: So, in answer to my question, 'How did you come to the conclusion that adequate consultation had occurred?', you took the advice of Moorabbin Airport?

Mr McClure : We got detailed advice from Moorabbin Airport. We have engaged with—

Senator McKENZIE: Did you do anything outside of accepting Moorabbin Airport's assurances?

Mr McClure : We, from the department level, had engagement with a range of stakeholders, the local government and a number of the on-airport tenants. We attend the community aviation forum. So we are—

Senator McKENZIE: But, specifically on the master plan, there are significant changes, and we didn't go out and consult as we would on the first draft plan. There have been significant changes, and I'm hearing that neither the department nor the minister went out and conducted significant consultation on those changes but accepted Moorabbin Airport's assurances that they were consulted on.

Mr McClure : With all master plans, the requirement for public exhibition and public consultation lies with the airport. As I say, we have engagement separately with a range of stakeholders, but the actual public consultation process is something undertaken by airports in the development of major development plans and master plans.

Senator McKENZIE: Do you know who approved moving said fence? The fence was approved, I think, to be moved 50 metres to the east to allow construction of warehouses. Instead, it was moved 300 metres to the east, and there was additional road distance approved. Who made those approvals?

Mr McClure : Those issues—

Senator McKENZIE: I ask that because former Minister McCormack made some approvals, and it has gone way beyond what was actually approved.

Mr M cClure : Those decisions aren't things that are put to the minister or the department—what the determination is, what is allowed under the prevailing master plan. Under the 2015 master plan, there was nothing preventing the movement of that fence and the changes in the aviation precinct.

Senator McKENZIE: Did the department brief in favour of approving the master plan in its advice to the minister, or did the minister not accept the department 's advice?

Mr McClure : We generally don't go into specifics of what we recommended, but, as I outlined, we certainly were supportive of the improvements that were made.

Senator McKENZIE: Right. So the minister accepted the department's advice in this instance? Yes. I will take that as a yes.

MTF...P2