Danna Vale (Hughes, Liberal Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

My question is addressed to the Deputy Prime Minister and Minister for Transport and Regional Services. Will the Deputy Prime Minister inform the House how seriously the coalition government views airport security? Are there any alternative approaches, and what is the government’s response?

Mark Vaile (Lyne, National Party, Deputy Prime Minister) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I thank the member for Hughes for her question. Of course, given the proximity of her electorate to Sydney Airport she takes a great deal of interest in aviation security matters. Our government is very serious about security both inside Australia and outside Australia as far as Australian citizens are concerned, and particularly around the aviation industry in this country. Between the government and the private sector in the aviation industry there have been billions of dollars spent on aviation security around the country since the terrorist attacks of 9-11 in 2001. In fact, the government has spent over $1.2 billion on aviation security across Australia as a result of those terrorist attacks in ensuring that the travelling public in Australia is secure.

A security breach at Sydney airport came to my attention yesterday, when there was a media story about it. I thought I should find out about it, so I contacted the airport operators, SACL, and asked for some information about this so-called breach. It turned out that there was not a security breach, but there seems to have been a deliberate misuse of an ASIC—that is, the Aviation Security Identification Card that is issued to people that work on airport sites across Australia so they can gain access. They have been properly screened by security agencies. It seemed that there had been a misuse of an ASIC to gain entry to the airport yesterday with media personnel.

You might ask who they were and why would they do that. It seems that the cardholder was none other than one Sam Crosby, an official of the TWU. Although he was not employed on the airport site, he had access as a senior officer of the Transport Workers Union so as to be able to see his members. But not only is Sam Crosby a senior official of the TWU; he just happens to be the president of Australian Young Labor. Here we have the president of Young Labor in Australia, a senior official of the TWU, misusing his ASIC to take the media onto the airport in Sydney to try and create a scare among the community about security at the airport. I asked SACL about the incident and how it occurred. They have closed-circuit television and a record of the security gates that were used. According to their statement:

Sam Crosby, an official with the Transport Workers Union, holds an ASIC and as such has the ability to sponsor applications for Airport Visitor Cards.

On Tuesday 5 June, at 12.16pm an Airport Visitor Card was issued to Zoe Arnold, the TWU’s Media Officer, on the sponsorship of Sam Crosby.

At 1.22pm Airport Visitor Cards were issued to Justin Vallejo and Tobias Zerna, staff members of the Daily Telegraph, on the sponsorship of Sam Crosby. In all Sam Crosby sponsored three people for Visitor Cards. It was stated that the purpose of obtaining the Airport Visitor Cards was to attend a union meeting.

At 1.28pm Sam Crosby used his ASIC four times to gain access through Gate 25. An electronic swipe (using an ASIC) is required at Gate 25 and an identification and bag check takes place at that location.

There was no breach of security; there was a misuse of his ASIC. They arrived at 1.28. The group left the airport at 1.46, so they were on the site having the union meeting for an entirety of 18 minutes. They would have gone around and seen many members of the TWU in that time!

We all know what this is about. This was just a blatant stunt out of the ACTU’s manual for political stunts, which we have seen this week. It was stunt used by the president of Young Labor in Australia to try and undermine the security circumstances in our aviation industry across this country. He is a very senior position holder in the Australian Labor Party. There was no breach of security at Sydney airport. There was a misuse of an ASIC. Sydney airport has advised me that they have referred the matter to the Australian Federal Police for investigation. I have asked that the Office of Transport Security provide advice to me as to whether Mr Crosby is still a suitable person to hold an ASIC to enter airport operations like those at Sydney airport. After this exercise, the Leader of the Opposition might think again before getting a photograph of himself and the leader of Young Labor put on the front page of a website. The Leader of the Opposition has said, ‘If the Labor Party is going to win and set the right direction for the nation it will require a 100 per cent effort from everyone at every level of the party to get involved.’ Sam Crosby has done that. He took his stunt straight out of the ACTU’s stunt manual in the lead-up to the election. I say again that there was no security breach at Sydney airport, but that there was a misuse of a privilege that a member of the TWU and the ALP had been granted by Sydney airport.