Sydney second airport: nearing reality after 40 years of obfuscation? Perhaps a solution in 2014

An announcement by Australia's Deputy Prime Minister, longstanding Transport Minister Anthony Albanese on 26-Jul-2013 suggested that the 40+ year saga to find a location for Sydney's much-needed second airport may be moving towards a final phase. The political football has come down to a standoff where neither major political party has been willing to take the plunge for fear the other would take electoral advantage by opportunistically opposing it. Mr Albanese said he was ''absolutely determined'' to start construction of an airport within three years if Labor were re-elected (a Federal election is due within the next few months).

This stops short of actually committing to it, but is a welcome step. Sydney Airport chairman Max Moore-Wilton was unimpressed however, deriding it as a political gesture at election time.