Badgerys Creek. No second airport site

The Rudd Government has ruled out the 1700-hectare Badgerys Creek site for a second airport site. It will ensure it is developed into a major source of jobs and economic development for an area of high unemployment. A taskforce will be commissioned to conduct another inquiry into finding an alternative site and asked to examine short-term solutions to Sydney's air capacity problem, and use of Canberra, Richmond or Williamtown to help with overflow. The taskforce will not report until mid-2011. Property interests have called for the quick sale of the land to provide sites for employment and residential needs The Federal Government forcibly acquired the land from 240 landholders in the late 1980s, at a cost of $155 million.