Rebutting claims by Capital Airport Group regarding matters ecological at the Canberra Airport

Jul 16, 2025 | Campaigns, Canberra Grassland Earless Dragons, Latest News, Nature and waterways

On 8 July 2025, Mr Stephen Byron, the CEO of Canberra Airport Group (CAG), made several claims on ABC Radio about matters ecological (Footnote 1). He said the area of Natural Temperate Grassland (NTG) which CAG is preparing to dig up and move into a seed bank, which lies adjacent to an existing dirt road between Fairbairn and Majura Road in Pialligo, is in poor condition. He said no Canberra Grassland Earless Dragons (Canberra Dragons) have ever been seen there. Both statements are false and Mr Byron knows, or ought to know, that the statements are false.

 

Condition of the NTG

Along a significant length of the Airport’s northeast boundary, NTG exists in ‘high to very high quality’:

  • Attachment B to CAG’s initial proposal for the northern road shows where NTG exists within the Airport boundary (Figure 1). Along much of the Airport’s northeast boundary, NTG is shown as being in the best (‘quality 1’) condition.
  • A report on an ecological survey conducted for CAG between February and April 2020, along the same boundary, showed the NTG there continued to be “high to very high quality” (Footnote 2).

 

Canberra Dragon sightings

Canberra Dragons have been sighted in this area. In CAG’s spatial imagery:

  • Attachment C to CAG’s initial proposal shows where the population of Canberra Dragons that live on the Airport and surrounds have been sighted (Figure 2, left). To be clear, this is a document CAG submitted to the regulator, the Federal Environment Department.
  • This same area was subsequently recognised, in the 2009 approval granted to CAG by a delegate of the then Federal Environment Minister, as a “Significant Habitat Area” for the population of Canberra Dragons living on the Airport and surrounds (Figure 2, right).

In CAG’s text:

  • Condition 2 of CAG’s approval requires CAG to prepare, submit and on approval implement a threatened species management plan that “must include measures to manage Natural Temperate Grassland and Threatened Species on the Canberra Airport lease.”
  • The Threatened Species Management Plan published on CAG’s website states:
    • Grassland Earless Dragons were first recorded at the Airport in 1996 and subsequent monitoring and capture has confirmed their presence east of the main runway and north of Taxiway Foxtrot (Footnote 3).
    • On Airport, Grassland Earless Dragons have been recorded in well-drained, minimally disturbed NTG, dominated by Wallaby Grasses, Speargrasses and Kangaroo Grass (Footnote 4).

 

Figures

Figure 1: Attachment B to CAG’s proposal: Natural Temperate Grassland within the Airport boundary (Footnote 5).

 

Figure 2: The area where CAG say Canberra Dragons have been sighted (left; Footnote 6) was recognised as ‘significant habitat’ for the population in the initial Approval Decision (right; Footnote 7).

 

Footnotes

1. https://www.abc.net.au/listen/programs/canberra-breakfast/breakfast/105488054, starting at 2 hr 19 min

2. https://www.datocms-assets.com/88007/1675732837-northern-road-epbc-20094748-construction-and-operations-strategy-may-20.pdf, pdf p. 179 of 182

3. The words “east of the main runway and north of Taxiway Foxtrot” is a fine description of the area where the population of Canberra Dragons that lives on the Airport and surrounds have been sighted (Figure 2, left).

4. https://www.datocms-assets.com/88007/1675732819-canberra-airport-threatened-species-management-plan-9-3-10.pdf, p. 15

5. CAG’s Referral (2009), Attachment B: Natural Temperate Grassland, https://epbcpublicportal.environment.gov.au/_entity/sharepointdocumentlocation/ad18b06b-2fb3-ec11-983f-00224818ab04/2ab10dab-d681-4911-b881-cc99413f07b6?file=Att%20Part%20A.pdf; The initial path proposed for the northern road is shown as a red line. The orange circle, lines and text have been added, and the title of Attachment B to CAG’s referral has been repositioned.

6. CAG’s Referral (2009), Attachment C: Grassland Earless Dragon, https://epbcpublicportal.environment.gov.au/_entity/sharepointdocumentlocation/ad18b06b-2fb3-ec11-983f-00224818ab04/2ab10dab-d681-4911-b881-cc99413f07b6?file=Att%20Part%20A.pdf , the red box only has been added to highlight the fact the attachment shows CGED sightings.

7. CAG’s initial approval in 2009 (EPBC 2009/4748), Annexure 2, https://epbcpublicportal.environment.gov.au/_entity/sharepointdocumentlocation/cc2a9176-44b3-ec11-983f-
00224818ab04/2ab10dab-d681-4911-b881-cc99413f07b6?file=approval.pdf, the red highlights and text have been added by FoG.