Badgerys Creek: no airport
c. 1999
Donated by William McInnes
Museum of Australian Democracy collection
Donated by William McInnes
Museum of Australian Democracy collection
This badge was worn to protest against the proposed development of a second airport for Sydney, at Badgerys Creek in western Sydney.
With the growth of air travel placing increasing pressure on the existing facilities at Kingsford-Smith Airport, successive federal, state, Coalition and Labor governments have attempted to address the need for a second airport for Sydney. Since the 1940s a number of studies have been conducted to determine Sydney’s airport needs, with nineteen possible sites for a second airport considered.
In 1976 a joint Commonwealth-State government inquiry, known as the Major Airport Needs of Sydney (MANS) group, was convened to recommend a strategy for airport development over the next 25 years, taking into account economic, social, environmental and community concerns. In December 1979 MANS released a preliminary report from its Commonwealth members, with the New South Wales representatives dissociating themselves from the report. The report recommended the construction of a third runway at Kingsford-Smith Airport and identified Badgerys Creek as the site for a second airport if needed in the future. Following continued debate regarding the recommendations, including aircraft noise, land values and environmental concerns, a third runway was constructed at Kingsford-Smith Airport and opened in November 1994.
The debate over a second airport for Sydney has continued. Another report initiated by the Commonwealth and New South Wales governments, Meeting the Future Aviation Needs of Sydney, was released in March 2012.