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

I rise to speak on the Aviation Crimes and Policing Legislation Amendment Bill 2010 [2011]. The purpose of this bill is to strengthen the existing framework surrounding Australia’s international and domestic aviation security regime by ensuring that aviation related crimes carry appropriate severe penalties and by making sure that an appropriate range of offences are applicable.

Large numbers of people pass through our airports every day. For example, Sydney airport is the busiest in Australia and handles approximately 30 million passengers each year. Of course, people in our profession are very well aware of the state of our airports. Such large volumes present potential targets for terrorism and other forms of organised crime, due to the number of people located in a very small area. Likewise, the high concentration of people on large airliners, the potential high death rate with attacks on aircraft and the ability to use a hijacked plane as a lethal weapon have proved an alluring target for terrorism over the years.

It is the role of the government to ensure that aviation security attempts to thwart would-be attackers from bringing weapons or bombs into the airport. Aviation security is designed to safeguard Australia’s civil aviation operations against acts of unlawful terrorism. It is designed to protect the airport from attacks and criminal activity, to protect the aircraft from attack and to reassure the travelling public that they are safe.

As mentioned in the Bills Digest, since the terrorist attacks in the United States on 11 September 2001, aviation security, including at airports, has been a significant issue in Australia’s antiterrorism and law enforcement efforts. To address the new and evolving security threats of the 21st century, the former coalition government invited aviation security expert Sir John Wheeler to undertake a review of aviation security in Australia. The subsequent Wheeler report, released in 2005, made 17 recommendations, including recommendations for regional airports. Following the report’s release, the federal government implemented all 17 of those recommendations.

Under the amendments in this bill, the penalties in the act will fall within four tiers. The severity of the penalty in each tier corresponds with the type of offence falling within each tier. Tier 1, which provides for life imprisonment—the most severe maximum penalty—will continue to apply for offences such as hijacking or destroying an aircraft whilst it is in flight. The attempted terrorist bombing of the American airline flight NW253 would have fallen within that tier if it had occurred on an Australian interstate or overseas flight. Under tier 2, a maximum penalty of 20 years imprisonment will apply to very serious offences that pose danger or cause harm to whole groups of people, such as endangering an aircraft whilst in flight. The offences in this tier have had their maximum penalties raised from either seven, 10 or 15 years. Under tier 3, a maximum penalty of 14 years imprisonment will apply to offences that are generally against aircraft or aviation environments, such as disrupting a major airport or destroying its facilities. These offences currently carry maximum penalties of seven or 10 years. Finally, tier 4 provides for imprisonment for up to 10 years. This tier applies to offences such as hoaxes and taking control of an aircraft, which currently carry maximum penalties of two to 10 years. For example, making a bomb threat to an airport would constitute such an offence.

The amendments also support the move from the current unified policing model, which is the state and territory police and AFP hybrid model, to an ‘all-in’ policing and security model at airports whereby the AFP will be responsible for policing Australia’s 11 major airports. Under these changes, the AFP will take full control of the community policing role at these 11 airports, replacing the hybrid model involving the AFP and state and territory police. The AFP will also move to a ‘fully sworn’ presence so that all AFP personnel deployed at an airport will have the same training and powers. The transition will be over a three- to five-year period. The ‘all-in’ model is an outcome recommended by the Federal Audit of Police Capabilities, which was conducted by Mr Roger Beale in 2009.

The coalition fully supports these measures, which are designed to ensure the safety and integrity of our airports and aviation facilities. We regard this legislation as carrying on the work of reform that was conducted during the course of the Howard government and that initially dealt with the increased threat level at our airports and on aeroplanes. Accordingly, we are pleased to support the passage of the bill through the House.

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