If you are going to run a major airport corporation, the first rule for being politically-savvy is to work out who the rising stars of politics might be.If the Brisbane Airport Corporation (BAC) had any brains in the past, they would have worked with the Federal Member for Griffith who stood up for his constituents when they were overwhelmed by unacceptable aircraft noise.
The BAC has always been happy to ride roughshod over the rights of Brisbane residents. Just look at the DFO at 1 Airport Drive, which saw the BAC hide behind the Australian Constitution by exempting itself from having to apply for town planning approval from the Brisbane City Council just because it was located on Commonwealth land.
Now, the DFO has created a total nightmare for motorists and the BAC couldn't care less about the problems they have created. They have even had the audacity to claim that the DFO hasn't had any effect on the Gateway Arterial / Airport Drive roundabout.
Now, back to the Federal Member for Griffith who took the BAC to court to try to stop the construction of a second runway. He lost the case but it didn't stop there. The BAC hounded him into the ground for their own legal costs which could have sent him bankrupt which would have caused him to be thrown out of Parliament.
The BAC would not accept that he was acting in the public interest as they went on to extract their pound of flesh from the Federal Member.
The Federal Member for Griffith was Kevin Rudd who went on to become the Prime Minister of Australia in 2007.Like many politicians, he never forgets.
Now, the BAC is squealing like a stuck pig over Kevin Rudd's plan to have an investigation into a night curfew at Brisbane Airport.
The BAC pays homage only to the Almighty Dollar and, based on its past performance, doesn't care two hoots about the residents of Brisbane.
This week, Airport spokesman Jim Carden put up a hopeless argument when he attempted to justify their current operations by claiming that the BAC only receives 100 complaints a month.
Only 100! Only 100! Bloody hell - 100 complaints and the BAC thinks this is normal.
Jim, you must have your head in the ground and your backside in the air, if you think that that is an acceptable level of complaints from the general public.
With people like you as the company spokesman, Prime Minister Rudd will have a field day as he goes about imposing a much-needed night curfew in his usual logical and systematic manner.
All of this will be great news for the long-suffering people on the Brisbane's southside who have been treated like dogs by the BAC for years.
And when the night curfew commences, the BAC should sit back for a long dose of navel gazing and realise that they should always treat elected members as honourable citizens and not as scumbags who might affect the company's bottom line.
Because the "scumbag" that they might be trying to destroy today, may become Prime Minister of Australia tomorrow.
And as this saga continues to play out, it it going to become one of the funniest political stories ever witnessed in Australia.
Except, of course, for the broken-hearted BAC whose political naivete will become legendary throughout the world as a result of their long-term public relations disaster when they tried to destroy a Member of Parliament who was just doing his job!
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