Police to be given stronger authority at airports as a part of sweeping overhauls to the Australian national security system.
Law enforcement will now have the power to demand identification from anyone at domestic airports, whether they are passengers or not.
Failure to disclose ID could see members of party that are travelling taken off planes and people escorted out of terminals.
Police to be given stronger authority at airports as a part of sweeping overhauls to the Australian national security system
Law enforcement will now have the power to demand identification from anyone at domestic airports, whether they are passengers or not
Failure to disclose ID could see members of party that are travelling taken off planes and people escorted out of terminals
The overhaul will also include greater numbers of bomb sniffing dogs and Australian Federal Police members trained to read behavioural signals.
There will be greater surveillance of people entering terminals, where people could be questioned should they arrive via taxi but not check baggage, and could then be detained if acting suspiciously.
Individuals who cannot prove identification and are acting suspiciously could be immediately ejected from the airport or detained by security.
They do not need to be travelling for police to remove or detain.
The moves come after an alleged plot to down an Etihad plane flying from Sydney to the Middle East was uncovered by a foreign intelligence agency which tipped off the Australian authorities.
The government released a strategy on Saturday to prevent vehicle terror attacks carried out in crowded public places following deadly assaults in Barcelona, Nice and London.
The overhaul will also include greater numbers of bomb sniffing dogs and Australian Federal Police members trained to read behavioural signals
There will be greater surveillance of people entering terminals, where people could be questioned should they arrive via taxi but not check baggage, and could then be detained if acting suspiciously
The report – commissioned after 86 people were killed in the Nice truck attack last year – gives venue operators a ‘toolkit’ to work from when addressing terrorism concerns.
‘As we have seen from tragic events in Paris, London, Berlin and Barcelona, terrorists continue to target crowded places,’ Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull said in a statement.
‘The strategy will assist owners and operators to increase the safety, protection and resilience of crowded places across Australia.’
The strategy offers businesses and local governments a guide to assessing how vulnerable their sites are to attacks, including from vehicles, and how to make them safer.
Suggested steps include deterrent options like fencing and closed circuit cameras, delaying approaches such as trees and statues to slow down vehicles, and quick response staff.
‘You can obviously have bollards, you can have seating… you can have works of art, you can have steps, planter boxes,’ Turnbull added to reporters in Sydney.
‘At the design stage, it can be done very unobtrusively.’
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