Victoria’s government has confirmed that Melbourne will get a third airport as its existing two begin to feel the burn of increased traffic. But as residents of Sydney will confirm, the announcement of a new airport is just the first step. It has been four decades since Australia’s largest city first mooted a second airport; it remains unbuilt. Instead Melbourne will hope to follow in the footsteps of Queensland. The Gold Coast and Brisbane were winners at this week’s Skytrax World Airport awards, while the state’s small privately owned airport Brisbane West has also been a surprise success. Privately owned and with a healthy balance of international freight work and domestic passenger connections, it may be a model for Melbourne to follow.

The silhouettes of Raúl de Nieves’s beaded figures in one corner, the shadow of a stark sculpture by Harold Mendez in another, both complemented by the tinkle of jazz: they are just some of the highlights at the 78th Whitney Biennial in New York, which opens today. As the longest-running survey of American art, the biennial curated by Mia Locks and Christopher Y Lew brings together 63 artists in the museum’s new Renzo Piano-designed home. It also acts as a barometer for the nation’s socio-political landscape. While Harold Mendez’s “American Pictures” – a skewered tree trunk covered in crushed insects – paints a dark vision of the country’s future, other displays are more hopeful. Kamasi Washington’s melodious jazz tunes play on the idea that beauty in music and life is composed of differences, while de Nieves’s installations trumpet a positive transformation in turbulent times.