The Morrison government says it will “rip up and redraw” Brisbane’s flight paths in an election-eve promise which could impact four marginal seats, three of which are held by the Liberal National party.
Brisbane’s federal member, Trevor Evans, made the announcement on Monday alongside his counterpart in the seat of Ryan and the LNP’s candidate for the Labor-held seat of Griffith.
It came after the release of an interim report by global air traffic consultants Trax International on Friday.
That report made 49 recommendations to address the issues that arose after Brisbane airport’s second runway was built in mid-2020, including scratching the flight paths and starting again, with noise abatement as a priority.
Anger has been bubbling away in affected areas of inner-city Brisbane since the flight path changes, finding organised expression in the Brisbane Flight Path Community Alliance (BFPCA).
A BFPCA spokesperson said people in some areas of Dickson, held by the defence minister, Peter Dutton, were also affected by the flight path changes.
“People out in Samford Valley [in Dickson] are very active in the flight path alliance, people in Upper Brookfield and Pullenvale, who are in the Ryan electorate, are very active and then you’ve got all of the inner-city suburbs who have been impacted,” the spokesperson said.
“Obviously coming out now, on the eve of the election being announced, [the LNP] are feeling the community pressure around this issue.
“So this is definitely a response to community backlash.”
The BFPCA member said that the report outlined solutions that could solve noise pollution, but would require long-term commitment from government.
“We’ve certainly seen empty promises before,” the spokesperson said.
“But we’re cautiously optimistic the genie is out of the bottle now.”
Last month, the Greens leader, Adam Bandt, introduced a private member’s bill to parliament for a Brisbane Airport curfew and hourly flight cap.
“Unsustainable flight noise has had a devastating impact on the people of Brisbane,” Bandt said at the time.
The LNP holds Brisbane by a margin of 4.9%, Ryan by 6% and Dickson by 4.6%, while Labor holds Griffith by 2.9%.
Political analysts predict Labor could make gains in those LNP seats, while the Greens are considered a threat to Brisbane, Ryan and Griffith.
Trax is expected to publish its final report in June.
