Arch Bevis (Brisbane, Australian Labor Party, Shadow Minister for Aviation and Transport Security) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

My question without notice is to the Minister for Transport and Regional Services. Is the minister aware that at Ballina Airport passengers are not screened before they board aircraft unless it is a jet, even when their flight is a direct flight to Australia’s largest airport, Sydney? Is he aware that, a year ago, Sir John Wheeler specifically warned:

... consideration should be given to more comprehensive security control over regional flight passengers when arriving at major airports such as Sydney ...

And:

... the Review noted the vulnerability of current arrangements as they relate to unscreened passengers on some regional regular public transport aircraft arriving at major airports such as Sydney.

Minister, why hasn’t the government fixed these problems five years after the September 11 terrorist attacks?

Warren Truss (Wide Bay, National Party, Minister for Transport and Regional Services) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I am aware of the claims by the honourable member for Brisbane—indeed, Senator Ian Campbell in the other place said that passengers departing Ballina are not subject to any kind of scrutiny. The Mayor of Ballina, Councillor Silver, and many others in the Ballina region this morning were in the local newspaper to make it abundantly clear that the claims by the honourable member for Brisbane and Senator Campbell are in fact wrong. They are false. The reality is that Ballina has jet services and those passengers are checked in the normal way to ensure that there are no security issues.

Julia Gillard (Lalor, Australian Labor Party, Shadow Minister for Health and Manager of Opposition Business in the House) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Ms Gillard interjecting

David Hawker (Speaker) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Order! The member for Lalor is warned!

Warren Truss (Wide Bay, National Party, Minister for Transport and Regional Services) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

On those passengers who are not on jet services: we have responded to the Wheeler report and his recommendation that there be greater scrutiny when those passengers arrive in Sydney. Indeed, those passengers are now bussed to the airport terminal building and are kept under scrutiny at all times. We have accepted all of the Wheeler committee recommendations, including those in relation to regional aviation. The claims by the Leader of the Opposition and others that we have not responded to that recommendation are completely false. We have fulfilled the recommendations entirely.

The Leader of the Opposition has also been guilty on many occasions of verballing Sir John in relation to his recommendations concerning regional airports. Sir John recognised that there would be different standards of security provided at different airports and that this should happen on the basis of a risk assessment. We have done the risk assessment, we have responded completely to the Wheeler recommendations and that applies also to passengers out of Ballina.

Arch Bevis (Brisbane, Australian Labor Party, Shadow Minister for Aviation and Transport Security) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Mr Speaker, I seek leave to table a photograph of the Ballina security point securely locked and shown as closed at the Ballina airport when it was operational. I also seek leave to table a second photograph of the secure area, with the door marked ‘security area’ left wide open for everybody to walk through—at the same time as the security checkpoint was closed.

Leave granted.