I don't understand why the Defence Dept is so precious about Pearce? If Darwin can be a combined civilian/military airport, why not Pearce??
As regards the comment about "the amount of traffic going up the Gt Northern Hwy" - doesn't this commenter know that Tonkin Hwy is going to be extended to Muchea? - and then, later on, to Bindoon?
The Tonkin Hwy-Muchea link is the most important section of the Perth-Darwin Hwy (now known as NorthLink WA) that is yet to be installed.
This 37km extension of Tonkin Hwy will cut off the exasperating drive up the Gt Northern Hwy to Bullsbrook/Pearce/Muchea, and provide a major section of 4-lane freeway to the North from Perth.
The construction of this section of the Perth-Darwin Hwy was already supposed to have started - but Federal penny-pinching saw the previously-allocated funding withdrawn, and the project put back a couple of years.
It's still on the cards, and it has a great deal of priority in planning. Construction of the link is now proposed to start in 2016.
Once this freeway link is installed, it's only a small step to connect Pearce airbase to this freeway - and thence the city.
Perth-Darwin Hwy extension to Muchea and Bindoon
NorthLink WA project
NorthLink WA Newsletter - Sept 2014