Portfolio — 16 June 2026

Catherine King's activity on 16 June centred on two distinct infrastructure decisions: the formal approval of Brisbane Airport's 20-year master plan, and the announcement of completed Regional Connectivity Program projects on Tasmania's west coast.

The Brisbane Airport Master Plan 2026 approval is the more consequential of the two decisions, establishing the regulatory and development framework for the airport over the next two decades [TA-260616-infras-9015aacc40bf]. King attached explicit community-facing conditions to the approval: Brisbane Airport Corporation must proactively engage affected communities on aircraft noise, continue implementing the Noise Action Plan for Brisbane in coordination with Airservices Australia, and make information about any future flight path changes publicly available once decisions are finalised [TA-260616-infras-9015aacc40bf].

Alongside the approval, Brisbane Airport has commenced an 18-month voluntary tailwind data trial specifically aimed at reducing overnight noise for local residents — a parallel operational measure that complements the regulatory conditions King imposed [TA-260616-infras-9015aacc40bf]. The combination of a mandated noise action plan, a transparency requirement on flight path changes, and the voluntary trial signals that community noise concerns were a substantive factor in how the approval was structured.

On regional connectivity, two projects under the Regional Connectivity Program reached completion in Tasmania's west coast, connecting Zeehan and Tullah to the state's fibre network [TA-260616-infras-e2de1f22dc60:m00AMR]. Both projects were delivered with co-contributions from Hydro Tasmania and 42-24 in partnership with TasNetworks, illustrating the co-investment model the program relies on.

King used the announcement to restate the government's program-wide commitment: more than $360 million across three funding rounds, supporting close to 300 communications infrastructure projects in regional, rural and remote Australia [TA-260616-infras-e2de1f22dc60:m00AMR]. The Tasmania completions are a delivery milestone rather than a new policy commitment, but they demonstrate the program reaching some of the most geographically isolated communities on the national network.