The Environment president wanted the States Trading Supervisory Board and Policy & Resources to investigate the opportunity to create a transport hub, something he said was a ‘fairly simple proposition’.
‘Basically it’s just about creating opportunity,’ he said.
‘Do we want to put in swathes of tarmac for the airport to allow its passengers to park on, or do we want to make transport a little bit more relaxed, a little bit easier for passengers to arrive? This new bit of land creates the opportunity for them to do something different. And why shouldn’t we think a little differently about our passengers?’
Deputy Gabriel said there was no requirement to spend any money but simply to explore travel choices.
STSB president Mark Helyar sought to invoke the rule that the amendment went further than the original proposition and members agreed not to debate it by 17 votes to 15.
‘I think the public would be quite upset if we started building a transport hub while we still have scaffolding on the roof and buckets on the floor collecting rainwater at the airport, so I think that should be a priority first,’ he said.