By Tim E. Stewart
DARWIN — The campaign to have military air exercises removed from the city has scored its first victory. With Territory elections set for June 4, the Singaporean Air Force was temporarily moved to Amberley air base (Queensland), following a visit by a senior Defence Department official from Canberra.
Chief Air Vice Marshal Leslie Fisher was appointed by Senator Robert Ray as a mediator in the dispute over deafening manoeuvres by visiting foreign aircraft. Prompting the visit was the community support generated from schools, businesses, tourist operators and residents by the Aircraft Noise Abatement Group (ANAG).
Complaints centre on health and safety issues including kerosene fallout and aviation fumes under flight paths.
Contrary to NT News headlines of "Foreign jet plan may be scrapped", Fisher stated at meetings with the NT Greens and ANAG that his brief from Ray was to "attempt to come to a solution which will accommodate the interests of residents, businesses and the RAAF".
The debate was contained to the examination of noise abatement procedures and the promise of further noise studies, with no concrete resolution either to shift the exercises to non-residential areas or to end them altogether.
Fisher shocked ANAG activists by revealing that visiting military pay absolutely nothing to use Darwin (population 70,000) as an acoustic laboratory. Angered, the four ANAG reps, Tessa Pauling, Terry Drier, Kath Midgely and Kerry Howell, demanded that the exercises be stopped immediately until a full environmental impact statement had been undertaken. They called for the facts to be made public about who decided, and why the decisions about the exercises were made without any community consultation whatsoever.
When Midgely said that "we need an independent person" to monitor complaints, Fisher replied, "You can go to the Defence ombudsman". He was unable to name this person or say how he/she could be contacted. Residents at earlier ANAG meetings had complained bitterly that complaints to the RAAF during exercises were treated in an ad hoc manner; for instance, official complaint forms are not always sent out.
When questioned about having the exercises moved to purpose-built Tindaal RAAF base near Katherine, Fisher answered, "There's a lot of money and convenience invested in the Darwin base ... you have to consider the social impact of four to five hundred military personnel in Katherine."
Pauling replied, "Why can't you just plop 'em in the Herc and take them to the [Darwin] casino Friday night, and they can root and toot their way around all weekend. Then they can fly back Sunday, shower and shave ready for Monday."
Lacking any credible solution to noise problems, Fisher promised that if noise levels recorded in future tests are high it will give ANAG the "appropriate ammunition to put to government". Drier commented that the last testing was done seven years ago and hasn't addressed the increase of 10,000 movements a year.
"People are still coming here as representatives with their snake oil and say we'll calm it all down for you. But nothing happens. Even you're getting on a plane and flying back [to Canberra] tomorrow!"
The policy of hosting foreign military exercises has been guided by the defence build-up in the north, enjoying bipartisan support since the early 1980s. The Department of Defence has been swift to move into public relations mode so that any wide-ranging debate about military activity is contained to changes in flight paths or future noise studies. And with Territory elections in two weeks, any criticism of defence activities in Darwin has been met with deafening silence by the major parties.