Mr CADMAN (2:10 PM) —My question is addressed to the Deputy Prime Minister and Minister for Transport and Regional Services. Would the minister inform the House about the sale of Sydney airport announced this morning? Is the minister aware of any alternative policies on this issue?

Mr ANDERSON (Minister for Transport and Regional Services) —I thank the honourable member for his question and acknowledge his real interest in it, in particular in terms of finding the right balance between asset maximisation and looking after the very real interests of his and other constituents in Sydney in terms of amenity. I think we have found a good balance. I am very pleased to be able to inform the House that the government has sold Sydney airport to Southern Cross Airports for $5.588 billion. This is the largest government trade sale in Australia's history, and the largest trade sale of any airport in the world to date. It is a very good outcome for aviation and indeed for the taxpayer as well. Southern Cross has demonstrated a clear commitment to the ongoing development of the airport as a world-class facility. Its quality should have been recognised by and evident to all Australians at the time of the Olympics when, despite some dire predictions from some quarters, the airport actually functioned extraordinarily well and confirmed its standing as one of the world's great airports.

It is very important indeed, though, to note—and I know that the honourable member who asked the question will want this noted—that the change in ownership will not mean changing the existing operating arrangements at the airport. The curfew from 11 p.m. to 6 a.m. and the 80 aircraft movements per hour cap will remain in force. The noise sharing policy implemented through the long-term operating plan—or LTOP, as it is known—will also continue. Access for regional airlines—and this is very important too—will continue to be guaranteed by the slot management scheme introduced by this government. The ACCC will also continue to ensure that existing prices for regional carriers at Sydney airport are maintained and that prices for those airlines do not increase in excess of the consumer price index.

The ownership provisions under the Airports Act ensure that the Sydney airport must remain majority Australian owned. Other restrictions in the act limit airline ownership of Sydney airport to five per cent, as well as placing cross-ownership restrictions on investors with a stake in Melbourne, Brisbane or Perth airports. Under the sale arrangements for Sydney airport, Southern Cross will have the first right of refusal to build and operate any second major airport within 100 kilometres of the Sydney CBD, if the federal government of the day were to decide that a second airport was needed. As is known and has been announced, we will review Sydney's airport needs in 2005, but I must say—and, indeed, the people involved in the bid have indicated they certainly share our views—a second airport is not now likely to be needed for a considerable time.

The government will, as has been said, apply the proceeds of the sale to reducing the $96 billion in public sector debt that we inherited from the Labor Party. In net terms, the Commonwealth's debt will be cut by $4.2 billion, which means that public debt interest payments will fall by about $250 million a year. That is another $250 million a year that gives us flexibility. We do not have to charge the taxpayers of Australia as much. We have more flexibility when it comes to providing services and providing the desirable and good things that the Australian community looks to us to provide.

The honourable member asked about alternative proposals. The opposition have announced that they would spend the proceeds of the sale on infrastructure, even though during the last campaign they told us, for example, that they would cancel important infrastructure programs like the black spots program. They said they would just scrap that. They have also said that they would use the same money to reduce the government debt that they ran up when they were last in government. As well as that, during the last campaign they said that they would use the money to bail out Ansett. They do not apparently see the airport as you and I might—as a major piece of infrastructure which should be used responsibly. They see it as something akin to Norman Lindsay's magic pudding. Honourable members might recall the scene where the pudding owners are walking down the road after revealing that with this magic pudding you can cut off as many slices as you like but there is always just enough of the cake remaining. Here is a quote from it:

Here are the two low-looking persons hiding behind a tree: the Leader of the Opposition and the member for Batman. They are the pudding thieves. They were going to slice the pudding up so many times that it was going to cover everything that the electorate could ever conceivably have thought they would ever want, but the cake was going to remain. Unfortunately, I have to tell the opposition that there is no magic pudding. There is just the choice to determine to run the place responsibly. If they are in any way serious about infrastructure development in Australia and driving our infrastructure dollars further, what they will do is get behind our plan for AusLink, which will ensure that we get better planning and better outcomes by driving our infrastructure dollars further.