Max Moore-Wilton: denies involvement in the sale of Sydney's airport.
Sydney Airport chairman Max Moore-Wilton has threatened to sue Anthony Albanese if he repeats an attack on him outside Parliament, while calling the Labor MP a "grub" and a "factional hack".
Mr Moore-Wilton also accused Treasurer Joe Hockey of colluding for years with Mr Albanese over a common approach to a second Sydney airport, the catalyst for animosity between the three.
In Parliament on Wednesday night, Mr Albanese accused Mr Moore-Wilton of a conflict of interest in his role as the chairman of Sydney Airports.
Anthony Albanese: said Max Moore-Wilton had a conflict of interest. Photo: Jesse Marlow
He also questioned Mr Moore-Wilton's role as the country's top public servant when the airport was privatised in 2002, in the same year Mr Moore-Wilton left the public service to run the privatised Sydney Airport.
Speaking to Fairfax Media on Thursday, Mr Moore-Wilton said he was not involved in the sale of Sydney Airport when he was working as a public servant, and that Mr Albanese would have been aware of this.
"If he said it outside Parliament, he would be sued to within an inch of his life," Mr Moore-Wilton said.
Joe Hockey: North Sydney electorate is affected by aircraft noise. Photo: Alex Ellinghausen
"This is a complete and utter fabrication," he said. "He knows that, and he knows that he can get away with it under parliamentary privilege. It is an absolute disgrace - the man is a grub, a factional hack and a misuser of his parliamentary office."
Mr Albanese's speech came in the context of heated disagreements over the need for a second airport in Sydney. Mr Albanese, who supports the construction of another airport, said Mr Moore-Wilton was entitled to oppose one.
"But as the head of a company that has a monopoly over the existing airport, any fair analysis would conclude that he has an enormous conflict of interest," he said.
Mr Albanese then discussed Mr Moore-Wilton's role as the secretary of the Department of the Prime Minister and Cabinet before the sale of Sydney Airport was finalised in late 2002. The sale included the condition that the purchaser of Sydney Airport would have the first right of refusal to build another airport in Sydney for 30 years.
Mr Albanese said: "I understand the condition was initially proposed to last 20 years but was increased to 30 years at the request of the buyer.
"One wonders what considerations were behind that and what was the head of the Department of the Prime Minister and Cabinet's knowledge of those considerations?" asked Mr Albanese, who is the former transport minister.
In late 2002, Mr Moore-Wilton left the Department of Prime Minister and Cabinet to run Sydney Airport for its new owner, Macquarie Bank.
But Mr Moore-Wilton on Thursday said he had not sought the position, and that while in government he had not been involved in the process of selling the airport to Macquarie.
"The process for the sale of the airports was undertaken, to my recollection, by the Department of Finance," he said.
"The minister for finance then reported to cabinet. To my recollection, I had no direct involvement in the sale of any of the airports nor, to my recollection, did I provide any advice to the prime minister. The department may have – I don't recall. Certainly it was not an issue I was involved in," he said.
Mr Moore-Wilton said that his current view was that Sydney might need another airport, but no one had proved that it was required imminently. But he said Mr Albanese and Treasurer Joe Hockey, whose electorate of North Sydney is affected by aircraft noise, had done a deal to ensure bipartisan support for another airport.
"My understanding ... is that Mr Hockey and Mr Albanese have had meetings going back as far as two years ago, in my understanding, and I have only been told about this by other people, where they agreed that they would pursue an approach with either of them in government to support the early, if not immediate, development of a second Sydney airport," Mr Moore-Wilton said.
"There is no infrastructure body in Australia that currently says there is an immediate need for a second Sydney airport, which is what I understand Mr Albanese and Mr Hockey say. There is no objective basis for them to make that statement."
The Abbott government has said it would make a decision on another airport site, all but certain to be Badgerys Creek, in its first term. But that decision would only trigger a two-year consultation with Sydney Airport, which has the first right to build that airport.
As transport minister, Mr Albanese supported another airport in Sydney, but did not manage to nominate a site for one.
Contacted for comment, Mr Albanese, who is currently shadow transport minister, said: "Max Moore-Wilton has tried to personalise this debate and question my motives.
"But the real issue here is what is in the nation's economic interest. There can be no doubt that the national economic interest demands the construction of a second Sydney airport," Mr Albanese said.
No comments:
Post a Comment