Latest news with #Liberal-held
Sky News AU
a day ago
- General
- Sky News AU
Shadow transport minister Bridget McKenzie accuses Labor of targeting Liberal seats with Western Sydney jet noise
Shadow transport minister Bridget McKenzie has claimed the Albanese government's night-time runway directive is a politically calculated manoeuvre to burden Liberal electorates with aircraft noise from Western Sydney International Airport. Shadow transport minister Bridget McKenzie has accused the Albanese government of concentrating jet noise over Liberal-held electorates as part of what she labelled a 'short-term political fix' to protect marginal Labor seats near the new Western Sydney International Airport. Transport Minister Catherine King has announced a ministerial directive for Airservices Australia to make 'Reciprocal Runway Operations' (RRO) the default at night at WSIA. RRO requires aircraft to take off and land facing the same direction—towards the southwest—but using opposite ends of the single runway. Ms King claimed the directive was to 'achieve the overall lowest possible impact on surrounding communities'. Labor holds 11 of the 14 seats in the broader Western Sydney region, and Ms McKenzie said the Minister's directive would disproportionately impact the few Liberal seats in the area. 'Labor is attempting to concentrate nighttime aircraft noise over Liberal held electorates of Lindsay and Hume,' Ms McKenzie told Sky News on Thursday. 'Part of Labor's noise mitigation strategy is a risky ministerial direction to have planes fly head-on towards each other for take-offs and landings at night. 'The government waited until after the election before finalising flight paths and attempted to hide the announcements behind the completion of runway construction.' The shadow transport minister has also raised further concerns over air safety and staff shortages. 'Under the Albanese Labor government there are already chronic shortages of Airservices Australia air traffic controllers,' she said. 'How can the government give confidence to pilots, crews and passengers that there will be enough air traffic controllers on shift at all times to keep planes from crashing head-on into each other over Western Sydney at night under Catherine King's new direction?' Ms King's direction to Air Services Australia was to make reciprocal runway operations the "default operating mode" between 11pm and 5.30am. Aviation expert and former commercial pilot Captain Byron Bailey has, in response, warned that the RRO plan may be both unworkable and potentially unsafe at a major 24/7 airport. 'Runway 23 will be the preferred runway due to the predominant wind direction,' Captain Bailey told Sky News. 'Nowhere in the world is (RRO) done like this. The resulting traffic confliction and holding would be ridiculous—possibly difficult for ATC to manage.' Captain Bailey warned that if pilots are forced to land or take off downwind due to the RRO restrictions, many may simply refuse. 'Take-offs for heavy B777/A380 would necessitate an into-wind take-off. A downwind take-off by 300-tonne-plus aircraft imposes an additional hazard which pilots will refuse.' However, aviation consultant Tony Stanton, CEO of Strategic Air, offered a different view, defending the RRO policy when applied in low-traffic overnight conditions. 'The minister's statement rightly includes an important consideration—'when safe to do so',' Mr Stanton said. 'Given the Reciprocal Runway Operations mode is to be prioritised between 11pm and 5.30am, traffic density would typically be favourable… I expect the RRO mode to be used routinely and on most nights of the year.' Western Sydney International Airport is expected to begin operations in 2026.
Time of India
4 days ago
- Business
- Time of India
Liberals unleash $3.86B in re-election cheques across Canada; Strategic spend or voter sway?
Liberal Members of Parliament (MPs) announced a staggering $3.86 billion in funding commitments across 411 projects nationwide in the week leading up to Canada's 45th general election on March 23, 2025. This pre-election spending surge, detailed in a Global News analysis, saw 38 Liberal MPs distributing cheques in 37 communities, from Yellowknife to St. John's. Notably, on March 22, the day before the election call, 26 MPs announced $1.8 billion for 116 projects. Major beneficiaries included Quebec's transit initiatives, with the Quebec City Tramway and Montreal's Blue Line extension receiving top-ups of $332.3 million and $650 million, respectively. In the week before the 2021 election, Liberals committed $3.03 billion to 495 projects. Similarly, ahead of the 2015 election, the Conservative government announced $2.7 billion across 430 projects. Over the 44th Parliament's four-year span, Liberal MPs announced 22,290 projects totaling over $110 billion. Of these, 9,834 projects worth $35.8 billion were in Liberal-held ridings, while Conservative ridings received $23.5 billion for 7,038 projects. NDP and Bloc Québécois ridings saw $7.27 billion and $10.7 billion, respectively. Live Events In Ontario, MP Terry Sheehan, facing a challenging re-election in the newly formed Sault Ste. Marie–Algoma riding, proactively announced funding in areas outside his previous jurisdiction. Sheehan visited communities like Wawa and Elliott Lake, announcing cheques totaling over $4.5 million. His efforts culminated in a narrow victory by 1,728 votes. In Alberta, MP George Chahal announced $8.3 million for 13 projects just before the campaign but lost his seat in Calgary McKnight. Similarly, despite $242.42 million invested in 267 projects in her Quebec riding, former minister Diane Lebouthillier was unseated by a Bloc Québécois challenger. While such pre-election spending is a recurring strategy, its effectiveness in securing electoral victories remains mixed.
AU Financial Review
19-05-2025
- Politics
- AU Financial Review
Teal Nicolette Boele pulls off miraculous election comeback
Teal independent Nicolette Boele appears to have completed a miraculous comeback in the Liberal-held seat of Bradfield, taking a 40 vote lead on Monday afternoon that could only be overturned by errors or exclusion of votes in a recount. At 3:24pm on Monday, the Australian Electoral Commission posted the latest results, showing Boele retaking the lead in a now complete two-party preferred count between the independent and Gisele Kapterian.
Sydney Morning Herald
12-05-2025
- Politics
- Sydney Morning Herald
‘Not just a win for Bradfield': Libs' Kapterian seizes seat on a razor-thin margin
The Liberal Party has managed to hold the once blue-ribbon seat of Bradfield on Sydney's north shore, with Gisele Kapterian just edging out teal Nicolette Boele after more than a week of counting. Kapterian, a former international trade and human rights lawyer, is expected to join the federal party room meeting in Canberra on Tuesday, when MPs will vote to choose a new leader after former leader Peter Dutton was ousted from parliament. One of the leadership hopefuls, Angus Taylor, opposed Kapterian's preselection, instead supporting anti-Voice campaigner Warren Mundine, despite Bradfield being the only Liberal-held seat in the country to vote yes in the referendum. Absentee and postal votes ultimately favoured Kapterian, which pushed her ahead of Boele despite the independent being marginally in front on election night. NSW Liberal senator and former party president Maria Kovacic said Kapterian's win demonstrated the standard of candidate that voters demanded of the party. 'Gisele Kapterian is exactly the kind of voice we need at the table if we are serious about winning back metropolitan Australia,' Kovacic said. 'This is not just a win for Bradfield, this is a clear step towards restoring the type of centrist and credible politics we need in our party and that our country demands from us.' NSW shadow attorney-general Alister Henskens, who was the Bradfield federal electorate conference president for many years before entering state politics, said if Kapterian had more time on the ground to campaign, she would have secured a bigger win. 'Gisele is incredibly smart, she has a Master of Laws from Cambridge University, has worked as a human rights lawyer in Africa and also at the World Trade organisation,' Henskens said.
The Guardian
06-05-2025
- Politics
- The Guardian
Liberal Tim Wilson projected to win Goldstein back from teal Zoe Daniel in nail-biting count
Tim Wilson looks set to reclaim his inner-Melbourne seat from the teals in a nail-biting race that will give the Liberals a glimmer of hope following an election night wipeout. The ABC's election analyst Antony Green called Goldstein for Wilson on Tuesday afternoon after the former MP took the lead during postal vote counting. As of 6pm Tuesday, Wilson led Daniel by less than a thousand votes with 80% of the ballots counted. Around 5,000 postal votes still need to be processed as well as absentee ballots, which typically favour the Liberals. Wilson's tight lead is expected to grow as more postal votes are counted but Daniel will wait for final results before conceding. 'Out of respect for my scrutineers and the democratic process I will await further counting. With the margin in the hundreds and the remaining votes in the thousands this seems sensible,' Daniel said in a statement. 'Again, I thank all of those who supported me in so many ways during my campaign and with their vote.' Daniel had claimed victory shortly after results began filtering in on Saturday night but has since acknowledged the outcome is 'obviously close' and would require some days before it is confirmed. If Daniel's loss in Goldstein is confirmed, it would mark the first reversal of teal independent gains in the 2022 federal election. The former ABC journalist held Goldstein on a 3.3% two-candidate preferred margin after winning 34.5% of the primary vote. In the 2022 election Wilson suffered a 12% swing against him, which was partly contributed to former prime minister Scott Morrison's dwindling popularity. The Liberals had held Goldstein since it was created in 1984. In the nearby seat of Kooyong, Monique Ryan is also under threat after her Liberal challenger, Amelia Hamer, narrowed the lead on postal votes. While Daniel and Ryan's seats are under close watch, their teal colleagues in Curtin, Mackellar, Warringah and Wentworth have all gained swings in their favour. In the Liberal-held seat of Bradfield, the battle between independent challenger Nicolette Boele and Liberal Gisele Kapterian is down to the wire. Wilson's team remains cautiously optimistic about his return to Canberra after he was ousted by Daniel at the 2022 federal election. The return of Wilson to the opposition's lower house benches will be seen as a boost for the party's otherwise electoral thumping under Peter Dutton's leadership. The moderate Liberal, who first entered federal parliament in 2016, was a strong advocate for marriage equality, using his maiden speech to deliver an emotional promise to 'lead change'. During the election campaign, Wilson faced criticism for an ad featuring a 'tradie' who shared an uncanny resemblance to a Liberal campaigner on his team.
