Michael Keenan (Stirling, Liberal Party, Shadow Minister for Justice and Customs) Share this | Hansard source

I rise to speak on the Transport Security Legislation Amendment (2010 Measures No. 1) Bill 2010. Since the terrorist attacks in the United States on 11 September 2001, significant efforts have been made around the world to improve transport security. Consistent with this, the former coalition government made ongoing efforts to ensure that Australia had a security regime that was suitable for protection against potential terrorist threats and attacks. The original introduction of the Aviation Transport Security Act and the Maritime Transport and Offshore Facilities Security Act was part of these ongoing efforts.

I will talk about the aviation industry in the first instance. International and domestic aviation is vitally important for all Australians. It connects us with each other and, of course, with the rest of the world. This is particularly important considering one has to travel approximately 4,000 kilometres from east to west, a fact of which members from Western Australia are very much aware. Our aviation industry is also a central component of our economy.

The attempted terrorist attack on a flight bound for the United States from Europe on Christmas Day last year indicated to the United States, but also to Australia, that we are in need of stronger measures to prevent unlawful interference with aviation. We need to acknowledge the contribution that aviation makes to Australia’s overall economy. Steady economic growth, particularly during the years of the previous coalition government, have increased tourism and made for a more profitable airline sector, which in turn has driven the expansion of Australia’s aviation sector.

In the 2007-08 financial year, over 49 million passengers travelled on Australian domestic airlines. It is also very important to note that regional airlines carried 5.8 million passengers, a figure which represents an increase of 11 per cent over the year 2006. Regional airlines and regional airports are an important part of Australian aviation’s history and future. A healthy aviation sector is vital for our ongoing prosperity and ongoing economic growth.

Alongside the aviation industry, Australia’s maritime industry is equally critical to the economic prosperity of Australia. Australia relies on sea transport for 99 per cent of our exports. A substantial proportion of our domestic freight also depends on coastal shipping. The former coalition government implemented a maritime security regime to help safeguard Australia’s maritime transport system and offshore facilities from terrorism and unlawful interference. Under this regime, all security regulated ports, port facilities, offshore facilities, port and offshore service providers and ships undertake security assessments and implement security plans to address identified risks.

Following on from September 11, the international community resolved to implement a system to secure the maritime transport sector against the threat of  terrorism. The International Ship and Port Facility Security Code, ISPS, developed by the International Maritime Organisation in December 2002 was the result. The coalition developed the Maritime Transport Security Act 2003 to implement the ISPS Code in Australia. Both the ISPS Code and the act came into effect on 1 July 2004.

In 2005, the act was extended and renamed the Maritime Transport and Offshore Facilities Security Act 2003. The amended act and regulations under it established the legislative basis for also improving security plans for offshore oil and gas facilities. International developments and a number of reviews have led to changes and refinements in the legislation underpinning the maritime security regime.

The Transport Security Legislation Amendment (2010 Measures No. 1) Bill 2010 amends the Aviation Transport Security Act 2004 and the Maritime Transport and Offshore Facilities Security Act 2003. The Aviation Transport Security Act amendments are designed to increase the flexibility of the aviation transport security framework to rapidly respond to an aviation security incident. The Maritime Transport and Offshore Facilities Security Act amendments, among other things, give or allow for increased powers to various maritime security officials for various purposes.

The Transport Security Legislation Amendment (2010 Measures No. 1) Bill 2010 seeks to introduce new security arrangements for civil aviation and passenger ships. The amendments were announced as a response to the National Security Adviser’s review of aviation security, following the attempted terrorist attacks on the US-bound flight on Christmas Day last year, which I alluded to in my opening comments. The bill proposes to amend the Aviation Transport Security Act 2004 and the Maritime Transport and Offshore Facilities Security Act 2003 in the following ways.

The Aviation Transport Security Act 2004 amendments change the process of listing prohibited items. Currently items are proscribed under regulation. It is proposed to empower the Minister for Infrastructure, Transport, Regional Development and Local Government to issue, as a legislative instrument, a notice specifying a list of prohibited items. The effect of this would be to speed the process of amending and updating the list. The notice would be a disallowable instrument. Some examples of items currently on the prohibited items list are meat cleavers, aerosol containers, golf clubs, letter openers and handcuffs. The maximum penalty for being in unauthorised possession of a prohibited item will remain 20 penalty units, which currently stands at $2,200 or two years imprisonment. The government has stated in the explanatory memorandum that enabling the prohibited items list to be amended by legislative instrument, rather than by regulation, will allow this list to remain responsive to emerging threats to aviation security while preserving parliamentary scrutiny via the usual disallowance procedure.

The second amendment to the act is to enable the secretary of the Department of Infrastructure, Transport, Regional Development and Local Government to delegate any of his or her functions to an SES employee in the Attorney-General’s Department in preparation for the establishment of a Commonwealth incident coordinator within the Attorney-General’s Department from 1 July this year.

Amendments to the Maritime Transport and Offshore Facilities Security Act are as follows. They will allow operators of Australian ships to apply for an exemption from the requirement to hold a ship security plan in exceptional circumstances; allow operators of foreign flagged ships that have been granted an exemption by their flag state from holding an international ship security certificate to have that exemption observed in Australia; permit frisk searches to be conducted on passengers and crew boarding security related passenger ships; enable the appointment of security assessment inspectors to conduct security assessments of maritime industry participants; and modernise the recording media options for maritime security inspectors.

In conclusion, the coalition supports the changes that have been proposed to both of these acts. It must be said that they are relatively modest against the rhetoric in the minister’s second reading speech, although we have to expect that from the government. There is a mass of rhetoric and then very modest outcomes. In particular, the minister quoted the counterterrorism white paper. It read:

The threat of terrorism to Australia is real and enduring. It has become a persistent and permanent feature of Australia’s security environment.

This is at odds with his announcement in December that it was common sense to relax security in favour of reducing waiting time for passengers.

Despite the confusion that the minister’s various announcements have created as to the government’s approach to transport security, these measures are not controversial from the opposition’s perspective and the bill, accordingly, has our support. It is integral to continuing to improve national maritime and aviation security and making the necessary amendments to do so, particularly in relation to emerging threats. The coalition recognises that threats to our security are increasingly complex and unpredictable and that we must get on the front foot with a coordinated and uncompromising approach to protecting our maritime borders and our aviation spaces. Ultimately, it is of vital importance to Australia that our maritime and aviation security measures are amended to ensure that we are best able to respond to changes in our overall security environment, and thus these modest proposals have the support of the opposition.

See this speech in context