Mr St CLAIR (2:04 PM) —My question is addressed to the Deputy Prime Minister and Minister for Transport and Regional Services. Would the Deputy Prime Minister advise the House how the government's announcement on Sydney airport this week will benefit regional New South Wales. Is the Deputy Prime Minister aware of any alternative policies in this area?

Mr ANDERSON (Deputy Prime Minister) —I thank the honourable member for his question and acknowledge his very real interest—particularly in representing Tamworth, one of the busiest regional airports in Australia—in the future of Sydney airport in general and access to it more particularly. I can advise the House that the government has determined to sell Sydney airport through a 100 per cent trade sale to be completed in the second half of this year. We will be imposing stringent limits on foreign ownership, including ownership by foreign airlines. Sydney airport will always be majority Australian owned.

The government has also decided that the other Sydney basin airports, including Bankstown, will be sold through a 100 per cent trade sale in the second half of next year, 2002. We will retain the existing operating arrangements at Sydney airport to protect regional New South Wales and the residents of inner Sydney as well. The government will not allow the private sector operator of Sydney airport to increase landing charges unfairly as a way of forcing regional airlines to Bankstown Airport. We recognise that Sydney airport is an essential transport hub for regional New South Wales. In fact, over 40 per cent of regional passengers arriving at Sydney airport connect with flights to other destinations. It is not feasible for those people to land at Bankstown Airport and then crawl slowly through the traffic to meet their connecting flights. So regional New South Wales will always need direct access to Sydney airport, even though Bankstown will become an attractive alternative for some airline services over time.

The government will be issuing a directive to the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission to give effect to our policy on regional pricing. The airport will not be able to increase the charges on regional airlines by more than the inflation rate, even in peak periods. The decision builds on the discussion paper that I released earlier this week, which details amendments to the slot scheme which will protect regional access to Sydney airport and make that scheme work more effectively. Our decision will also protect Sydney residents. I stress that the curfew and the 80 movements per hour cap will remain in place and I will be recommending that the private sector lessee of Bankstown Airport should be required to do a full environmental impact statement into the upgrading of the airport.

The honourable member asked me if there were any alternative policies. The opposition's platform says that they will build a second airport in the Sydney basin. There is no word of where it will be, where the flight paths will be or how it will be funded. The residents of Sydney have a clear right to certainty. The government has a clear, sensible and appropriate plan for addressing Sydney's airport needs, and it is time for the policy-lazy opposition to produce the details of its plans for Sydney.