Beazley should call, and with very strong reasons, a royal...

Beazley should call, and with very strong reasons, a royal commission into Australian airport security but it seems he doesn't learn much from the fact that Howard did him over terrorism and Tampa. He is a weak, useless opposition leader ....... a pushover for the likes of Howard and Anderson.

Consider .....
" Editorial: Airport is a security fiasco
June 01, 2005
AS if the news earlier this month that baggage handlers at Sydney airport had been stood down in connection with a cocaine-smuggling racket were not bad enough, yesterday's revelations in The Australian, based on a classified security report on airport staff, shows the situation is far worse. The report, by a security agency within Customs, is a scarifying document that suggests our major international terminal is systemically vulnerable to organised crime and, quite possibly, terrorism. It reveals a culture among baggage handlers, security screeners, ramp and trolley workers in which hiring occurs on the basis of mateship or ethnic affinity, a situation rife with the potential for corruption. Among the self-contained "gangs" of airport staff are some that are, according to the report, hostile to mainstream Australian life. The report details instances of theft and drug-smuggling facilitated by the many "blind spots" in airport security. It talks of the movement of illicit firearms through the airport. And it describes the easygoing treatment by Customs officers of international flight crew, despite the fact examinations of crew baggage come up positive at quadruple the rate for passengers.

While the US responded to 9/11 by aggregating existing agencies under the umbrella of Homeland Security, Australia has gone in the opposite direction. A chart showing lines of authority for aviation security alone would make Barry Jones's famous "noodle nation" diagram look transparent. There is no single agency responsible for airport security, with Customs, the Australian Federal Police, airport management, the airlines, and a plethora of private contractors all involved in various bits of it. In airport security there has been an understandable focus on passengers, but the classified report notes that "what is overtly lacking is a co-ordinated law-enforcement focus on airport activities". It complains that Customs is denied even a formal listing of airport employees, and notes the interference by unions in attempts by security officers to question airport staff.

One thing clear about the lines of authority is that the buck for airport and aviation security stops with Transport Minister John Anderson. Mr Anderson claimed yesterday there had been improvements in airport security since the report was written, last September, but did not say what they are. And Labor gave him a free ride by making the issue Schapelle Corby's defence – a complete furphy – instead of substantial security failures that are putting Australians at risk. With active terror cells in the region looking for any chink in our security net, we have allowed our biggest airport to become a gaping hole by letting those who work there operate as they please. Be alarmed. Be very alarmed."