An aerial photograph of Badgerys Creek Rd, Badgerys Creek / Pic: Craig Greenhill Source: The Daily Telegraph
OPPOSITION Leader John Robertson has backed calls for a new public debate about a second airport at Badgerys Creek in Sydney's west.
But he has said that current Labor policy to oppose it would continue, in defiance of a campaign by unions to get it built by 2030.
Yesterday Mr Robertson refused to directly respond to the union campaign to support Badgerys Creek, which pits him against almost 60 unions across the state following their vote last week to campaign for the project.
Mr Robertson, who had used the union movement in 2008 when he was Unions NSW boss to roll then premier Morris Iemma over his plans to privatise the state's electricity assets, now finds himself on the wrong side of the movement that helped put him into power.
"That position is a matter for them and their members," Mr Robertson told The Daily Telegraph yesterday.
"I think WSROC (Western Sydney Regional Organisation of Councils) are taking the sensible and appropriate response by going out and consulting with the community so we can have a fully informed debate about the issue.
"Current Labor Party policy rules out a second airport at Badgerys Creek."
He would not say whether Labor policy could change.
"That is not on my agenda right now. What I do support however is the consultation taking place under WSROC at the moment," he said.
Mr Robertson's comments came as federal Transport Minister Anthony Albanese offered the first hint that the federal government could be prepared to break a 30-year policy position and support a second Sydney airport at Badgerys Creek.
Backing the NSW union campaign to end political debate and start construction of a second airport, Mr Albanese appeared to soften his position.
Asked on Channel 10's Meet the Press program on Sunday whether there was ever a possibility that Labor may change its mind on its opposition to Badgerys Creek, Mr Albanese cited several studies supporting it. But he said it would need bipartisan support to ever be achieved.
"Look, I think in terms of what the conditions are for progressing the issue, I've made it clear - you need bipartisan support. It's across the board," he said.
"Badgerys Creek - the land is there, it's had an EIS, so people know that that is a site that could be progressed. Once the Wilton study is looked at, people will be able to determine, in terms of what options there are, but what's very clear is that Sydney does need a second airport."
Unions NSW boss Mark Lennon last week accused both federal and state governments of being "shortsighted" in their opposition to the Badgerys Creek option, citing the number of jobs it would create. Unions claim the jobs are vital for the western Sydney economy.
Mr Albanese backs a second airport at Wilton, south of Sydney - an option cited as inferior to Badgerys Creek in a recent federal government study. A second report is due soon on Wilton's viability.
Premier Barry O'Farrell has maintained that the state government is opposed to a second airport anywhere in the Sydney basin.
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