Perth resident makes 21,716 complaints about aircraft noise in a year – 40 per cent of the national total

A single Perth resident was responsible for more than 21,000 complaints about aircraft noise over the Western Australian capital last year.

The serial whinger’s 21,716 quiet protests made up 40 per cent of the 51,589 aircraft noise complaints made across the country in 2023.

That equates to lodging one objection every 25 minutes, or about 59 a day, for an entire year.

The unidentified whiner topped a list of five individuals who made 30,543 complaints over the period – about 60 per cent of the national figure.

His or her contacts with the Noise Complaint and Information Service were revealed in a submission by Airservices Australia to a federal inquiry into aircraft noise. 

Filling out the top five were four people who complained a total of 9,827 times about noise at Brisbane and Archerfield, the Queensland capital’s secondary airport.

The angriest Sydneysider made 852 objections and another made 672. Hobart was next on the list with one person reaching their wit’s end 527 times.

Brisbane’s biggest total was 500, while no one in Melbourne made the top 10. 

Airservices Australia monitors noise at Brisbane, Cairns, Canberra, Gold Coast, Sydney, Melbourne, Essendon, Adelaide and Perth airports. 

Its Noise and Flight Path Monitoring System (NFPMS) operates 24 hours a day, seven days a week, collecting data from every plan flying in and out of each facility.

There were more than twice as many complaints last year compared with 2022 – 51,589 against 25,178.

But there was a relatively small difference in the numbers of complainants, which were 5,035 and 4,768 respectively.

The inquiry has received more than 80 submissions from interested parties including airports, airlines, tourism forums and environmental groups. 

One Brisbane resident who penned a submission said the ‘casual acceptance’ by aviation policy makers that aircraft noise was a necessary inconvenience was ‘depressing’.

A serial  whinger’s 21,716 quiet protests made up 40 per cent of the 51,589 aircraft noise complaints made across the country in 2023. Stock image

‘These are people who do not suffer the consequences of their policies, who have never lived under a busy flight path, who do not know the extreme distress and hurt caused, and who do not acknowledge the research on the harms caused by aircraft noise,’ they wrote.

‘For me, the issue is not just about the multiple flights every night which prevent proper sleep, but about the unfairness and stonewalling I have encountered in trying to make my voice heard by those who treat citizens as statistics.

‘There is something intensely irritating and deeply offensive about the intrusiveness of the rumbling whining roaring crescendo of aircraft noise that interrupts your life.’ 

NFPMS uses long-term noise monitors located within communities and according to Airservices Australia is the world’s largest, most geographically-spread system of its type. 

Some monitors have been in place for more than 20 years.

The aircraft noise inquiry is being conducted by parliament’s Rural and Regional Affairs and Transport References Committee.

The inquiry is examining the impact and mitigation of aircraft noise noise on residents and business in capital cities and regional towns. 

The committee is due to report in October.