[Peetwo]

Chester under siege on Airport security & safety - Part III

Following on from the recent discourse on the ever popular Chester thread - Chester under fire on airport safety..err security & safety - Nick Xenophon has now jumped into the fray in support of the AusALPA concerns, with some even more embarrassing MSM coverage...

Pilots concerned about aircraft security
Updated: 8:19 pm, Wednesday, 2 August 2017
   

Also via the Oz...

Pilots want ID checks on domestic flights

8:26pmEAN HIGGINS

The peak airline pilots body has demanded the government requires domestic passengers to show photo ID before boarding.

Of course none of the issues mentioned are any sort of revelation, you only need go back some 9 months to the evidence given by Alan Kessing at the refreshed now defunct Senate Airports Security inquiry:

Senate Inquiry: Airport & Aviation Security MKII

21 Mr Allan Kessing (PDF 102 KB)

    
Then yesterday Binger, in the Oz, wrote a late article summarising the Allan Kessing submission and evidence given in the inquiry:

Airport screening a ‘facade’
1:56pmMitchell Bingemann

Whistleblower Allan Kessing says passenger screening is a “useless facade”, and intelligence gathering needs resources.

Senator X calls on Chester & the Government to; (via Senate Hansard 09/08/17)

Senator Xenophon to move:

That the Senate—

(a) notes that:

   (i) the Australian Government has a fundamental duty to take all reasonable steps to ensure that air travel in Australia is safe from malicious or terrorist activities,
   (ii) Australia's aviation security obligations under the International Civil Aviation Organization's Convention on International Civil Aviation must be approached with world's-best practice in mind,
   (iii) as part of the current aviation safety regime, the following categories are examples of people subject to mandatory screening at major airport terminals: passengers, cabin crew and pilots, and
   (iv) with reference to regulation 4.11 of the Aviation Transport Security Regulations 2005, the following categories are examples of Aviation Security Identification Card (ASIC) holders who are not subject to mandatory screening at major airport terminals: baggage handlers, aircraft catering staff and ground service staff; and

(b) calls on the Government to repeal regulation 4.11 of the Aviation Transport Security Regulations 2005 to provide consistency by mandating screening at major airport terminals for all persons, other than those set out in:

   (i) regulation 4.09(3) - people disembarking from an aircraft who have already been suitably screened, other than international transit passengers, cabin crew and pilots,
   (ii) regulation 4.10 - law enforcement officers, screening personnel managing a screening point, emergency personnel responding to an emergency and members of the Defence Force responding to an event or threat, and
   (iii) regulation 4.12 - heads of state, heads of government or foreign ministers.

Update - From 'that man', via the Oz: 

Xenophon motion to require airport staff security checks rejected

Nick Xenophon Team leader Senator Nick Xenophon says the rejection of his motion is very disappointing.

• The Australian
  
  
• 3:11PM August 10, 2017
  
• EAN HIGGINS
  
  Reporter
  Sydney
  @EanHiggins
  [img=0x0]https://i1.wp.com/pixel.tcog.cp1.news.com.au/track/component/author/0573acb566bb47c45e64e4c55a998aba/?esi=true&t_product=the-australian&t_template=s3/austemp-article_common/vertical/author/widget&td_bio=false[/img]
  

The government has voted down a motion from independent Senator Nick Xenophon to require airport staff with access to aircraft including baggage handlers, caterers and cleaners to go through the same body and baggage security screens as aircrew and passengers.

Coalition senators rejected the motion when it came before the Senate this afternoon, despite robust announcements from Transport Minister Darren Chester and other ministers that they are tightening security after the alleged jihadist “meat grinder bomb” plot to take down an aircraft.

The Transport Workers Union, the Australian Airline Pilots Association and terrorism experts have warned that screening checks on staff entering airport security perimeters is too lax.

The Australian Federal Police last week told a parliamentary committee that organised crime has infiltrated such personnel.

Such workers, often casual staff or subcontractors, only have to flash ID cards at the security entrance and are not usually required to undergo metal detection screening or manual searches or X-ray screening of their bags, as passengers and aircrew are.

“It’s an inconsistency that needs to be rectified,’’ AAPA president Murray Butt, who flies Qantas A380s, said in Sydney last week.

“It doesn’t take a lot of imagination to envisage how terrorism-inclined ground staff with access to planes on the tarmac could carry out an act not in the interest of that aircraft,” Captain Butt said.

South Australian Senator Xenophon’s motion to the Senate this afternoon “calls on the Government to repeal Aviation Transport Safety Regulations Reg 4.11 to provide consistency by mandating screening at major airport terminals for all persons.”

The only exemptions would be for “people disembarking from an aircraft who have already been suitably screened”; law enforcement, security, and emergency staff; defence force personnel responding to a threat; and heads of state, heads of government or foreign ministers.

Labor joined the government in voting down the motion.

Senator Xenophon told The Australian following the vote he was “gobsmacked” the major parties and the Greens combined to defeat his motion.

“It is quite disappointing considering the assurances the government gave after the recent terror-related arrests that security at our airports was being boosted,” Senator Xenophon said.

“I have great respect for the work that ground crew at airports do, but this loophole fails to pass the most cursory of pub tests” Senator Xenophon said.

“How can the government ignore the peak body representing 5000 commercial aircraft pilots?”

“Australian travellers are going to trust the opinion of an experienced pilot over a politician any day over what needs to be done to improve airline safety.”

Senator Xenophon said he would continue to press the matter.
There was no immediate comment from Mr Chester’s office as to why the government voted against Senator Xenophon’s motion.

From Senate Hansard today:

Senator McGRATH (Queensland—Assistant Minister to the Prime Minister) (12:25): I seek leave to make a short statement.

The DEPUTY PRESIDENT: Leave is granted for one minute.

Senator McGRATH: The coalition government's No.1 priority is the safety and security of Australians. The government is already implementing strengthened airside security arrangements at Australia's nine major airports. The Transport Security Legislation Amendment Bill 2016 was passed by parliament in March, and amendments to the Aviation Transport Security Regulations 2005 are currently being drafted. The arrangements include the screening of people, vehicles and goods accessing security restricted areas. The International Civil Aviation Authority has determined that the strengthened airside security arrangements will meet its standards. The government can provide a briefing to Senator Xenophon and other interested senators on the strengthened arrangements.

Senator XENOPHON (South Australia) (12:25): I seek leave to make a short statement.

The DEPUTY PRESIDENT: Leave is granted for one minute.
Senator XENOPHON: This motion relates to ensuring that the screening at our airports is consistent, including the ground staff. At the moment, ground staff, baggage handlers, cleaners, caterers and others who have an ASIC card aren't necessarily screened when they have access to an aircraft, unlike all passengers, pilots and crew of an aircraft.

This motion came about as a result of discussions I've had with the peak pilots body in this country, AusALPA, which represents 5,000 commercial airline pilots, whose foremost concern is the safety of their passengers. This motion is about calling on the government to close a loophole in the screening at our airports. I urge honourable senators to support this motion.

The DEPUTY PRESIDENT: The question is that the motion moved by Senator Xenophon be agreed to.

The Senate divided. [12:28]
(The Deputy President—Senator Lines)
Question negatived.

MTF...P2