[Peetwo]

Update: Airport security disconnections.

References:

LMH with more on airport security etc.

Previous reference off Alphabets:

Airport security report due to be tabled -

Via Oz Flying yesterday...

Security at airports has been a contentious issue for decades. (Steve Hitchen)

Senate Report on Aviation Security due on 30 March
22 March 2017

More information on the inquiry is on the RRAT parliament house website.

Read more at http://www.australianflying.com.au/lates...bEVwxbU.99

 
Also via Oz Flying and very much related, former AMPA president John Hillard tells some home truths about ASICs and the supposed implementation of recommendation 36 of the Forsyth (ASRR) review report... :

You keep-a knocking, but you can't come in: those without an ASIC have to stay behind the security fence at Bathurst, NSW. (Steve Hitchen)

The Last Refuge of the Desperate Bureaucrat
22 March 2017

– by John Hillard

"Security is the last refuge of a desperate bureaucrat." – credited to Sir Humphrey Appleby, Yes Minister, BBC TV.


John Hillard is a former president of the Australian Mooney Pilots Association.

Read more at http://www.australianflying.com.au/lates...fv3OwwF.99

And today's LMH :

Is it really going to happen? Is the waiting over? Will the report on the senate inquiry into airport and aviation security really be tabled next Thursday? The secretariat of the Senate Standing Committee on Regional and Rural Affairs and Transport (don't worry, I'll use an initialism: RRAT) has assured me that it will, and the time is running out for them to request another extension, so I'm going to pull out my optimism hat and say we will see the report next week. When it comes, it will be nearly two years since the first reporting date lapsed. The senate referred the matter in December 2014 with the report due the following April, but after that came no less than 10 deadline extensions! The RRATs senators must have had a lot to sift through, so we can expect some momentous conclusions next Thursday, right? Well, it's being tabled on the last sitting day of the senate term, so I suspect we might see a dump-and-run, leaving no-one left in the red chamber to answer inconvenient questions.

And it's almost incomprehensible to believe that many submissions to the RRAT inquiry didn't point out the myth and folly behind the Aviation Security Identification Card (ASIC) for pilots. The ASIC has been around for a few years, and as far as it relates to pilots, has not increased aviation security to any degree at all. Recommendation 36 in the Forsyth Report, tackled this week by former AMPA President John Hillard, said that an ASIC should be valid only for certain areas of airports with RPT, not the whole airport. The government didn't agree with this, but promised some more consultation. That was never going to produce anything, because there's not much desire in either parliament or the bureaucracy to change. Hillard quotes the BBC TV series Yes, Minister in his article, which is appropriate given the ASIC system is one of Australia's great political shibboleths protected by a self-serving bureaucracy. I can almost hear any suggestion of relaxing ASIC laws being greeted with "That's very brave of you, Minister."

Read more at http://www.australianflying.com.au/the-l...r0CY9fe.99

Sandy has responded directly (via Oz Flying) to this week's LMH with the following... :

Good on you Hitch for keeping the airport security issue alive. I sincerely hope your optimism is justified but until politicians take control there will be little or no improvements. The reason nothing happens, no dinkum reforms anywhere for General Aviation, are clear. The Minister, by law that is now 30 years old and by practice, has abrogated his responsibilities to govern aviation. Hence once again, 21st March, a Ministerial "Statement of Expectations", a bunch of generalisations that contains nothing of substance. There are no KPIs, no deadlines, no sanctions for inaction, no proper delineation between the Board and the farcically titled "Director of Air Safety". Is there any incentive for reform? Reforms would lower the numbers employed by CASA, lower their prestige and power and possibly uncover the numerous skeletons that CASA would much prefer to remain buried.

"Expectations"

Talk about ridiculous, who cares about the Minister's "Expectations"? We've had all the Minister expectations for nearly 30 years with the nutters left in charge doing willy nilly, nest feathering and destroying General Aviation. Without absolute prescribed goals CASA and Infrastructure have no incentives to change.

Why should we not demand a "Statement of Directions"?

Why doesn't the Minister take charge? The Westminster system cannot work if the Minister is not responsible. The independent Commonwealth corporate body type governance, a new and experimental form of government from the late '80s, has failed, is failing and will not, cannot, work without a major rework by Parliament.

MTF...P2

Ps In reference to the very good John Hillard blog piece on ASRR recommendation 36 and the OTT ASIC card system. Well apparently that transport security card system has been officially made more onerous by our NFI miniscule and the Turnbull government:

Security boosted against insider threats
Media Release
DC062/2017
20 March 2017

• Less chance of aviation insiders smuggling weapons through secure areas.
  

The Coalition Government is keeping Australians safe by strengthening security in our airports with tough new changes to guard against insider threats.

Minister for Infrastructure and Transport Darren Chester said Australia's transport sector would be more secure in the future with the passing of the Transport Security Legislation Amendment Bill 2016 through the Parliament today.

Mr Chester said this security upgrade would play a critical role in securing our transport infrastructure.

“Additional changes to the Aviation Transport Security Act 2004 would empower airport security to subject airport workers and vehicles to random security checks when they are inside secure airside areas,” Mr Chester said.

“These changes provide further protection from the threat of the so-called ‘trusted insider’, significantly reduce the chance of an attack against aviation.

“We have high expectations of individuals who are granted access to the secure areas of our airports and seaports.

“The successful passage of this Bill is further evidence that the Australian Government takes seriously its responsibility for ensuring that our aviation environments are well protected,” Mr Chester said.

A review of the Alan Kessing evidence given and submission to the Senate inquiry perhaps highlights why there was a need for this amendment to the Aviation Transport Security Act (in strengthening the conditions for obtaining ASICs etc., for airside workers) at our major airports.

 Airport and aviation security

"..On 4 December 2014, the Senate moved that the following matters be referred to the Rural and Regional Affairs and Transport References Committee for inquiry and report by 26 April 2015..."

Referencing the submissions page:

Submissions  (44th Parliament)

1 Mr Bryan Seymour (PDF 1186 KB)  Attachment 1 (PDF 33622 KB) 

2 Mr Robin Darroch (PDF 55 KB) 

3 Department of Infrastructure and Regional Development  (PDF 102 KB) 

4 Homeland Security Asia/Pacific (PDF 928 KB)  Attachment 1 (PDF 1626 KB)  Attachment 2 (PDF 209 KB) 

5 Board of Airline Representatives of Australia (PDF 570 KB) 

6 Australian & International Pilots Association  (PDF 286 KB) 

7 Mr Richard Rudd (PDF 46 KB) 

8 Australia Pacific Airports (Melbourne) Pty Ltd (PDF 3898 KB) 

9 Regional Aviation Association of Australia (PDF 432 KB) 

10 Australian Security Intelligence Organisation (ASIO) (PDF 109 KB) 

11 Regional Express (PDF 354 KB) 

12 Law Council of Australia (PDF 85 KB) 

13 Australian Security Industry Association Ltd  (PDF 58 KB) 

14 Qantas Airways Limited (PDF 465 KB) 

15 Office of the Inspector of Transport Security (PDF 61 KB) 

16 Australian Federal Police (PDF 110 KB) 

17 Australian Airports Association  (PDF 381 KB) 

18 United Voice (PDF 511 KB) 

19 Immigration and Border Protection Portfolio (PDF 1935 KB) 

20 National LGBTI Health Alliance (PDF 1349 KB) 

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Submissions (45th Parliament)

21 Mr Allan Kessing (PDF 102 KB) 

Pps P2 Q/ My question is - where is the AOPA submission? Surely an organisation like AOPA should have the ASRR R36 and ASIC card issues, as highlighted by John Hillard, high on the list of advocacy campaigning, yet if you refer to the AOPA ASRR submission... 

70 Aircraft Owners and Pilot Association of Australia (AOPA) PDF: 376 KB

or the AOPA webpage - https://aopa.com.au/ - it would seem the ASIC is not high on the AOPA agenda - just saying...