by // Paul Clough, Solicitor 

Having been overseas recently, your correspondent has experienced the full onslaught of the inspections that pass for the bulwark against in-flight terrorism. Like normal males, I took away, in an overnight case, toiletries consisting of shaving soap, razer, aftershave, deodorant and hair crème. All very mundane and half-used in most cases.

As I left Australia, no interest was shown in what I had in my carry-on luggage. Malaysia was quite interested in x-raying baggage and carried out two reviews of my overnight case and two bottles of Verve Cliquot but, again, showed no interest in the liquid contents. Having drunk the champagne whilst in the UK, at Heathrow, I purchased two more bottles of bubbly for the on-carriage. The terrorism police attendants were quite interested in the bottles of champagne as a talking point but nothing else. Amsterdam was different. They had no interest in the toiletries but were more concerned that I was now carrying a sealed bottle of champagne and two small sealed bottles of beer in my overnight case on the return to Malaysia. These alcoholic drinks offended some rule and whilst they were sealed and unopened, they were not sealed enough. They were confiscated. I had some difficulty in persuading the Dutch terrorism attendants that I wanted the three bottles opened and their contents tipped out. Suddenly there was a language problem. I had an unsettling feeling that the attendants may have seen the confiscation of champagne and beer as ‘fringe benefits’. However, determination won out, and the bottles were opened into a wheelie bin. Malaysia was the same as a month earlier: two x-rays and surveillance but no interest in the toiletries.

I arrived in Sydney aboard a Malaysian Airlines flight in transit for Brisbane. My toilet bag contents were now slightly more used than before. Hey presto another security search to be endured. This time I was searched from airside to airside transit. Sure enough, the toiletry bag got the full treatment. A smidgeon of hair crème was outside the limits of 100mls. The aftershave was similarly afflicted and, god forbid, I had a metal shoe horn in the bag. All of it was confiscated and I could not help but feel for the poor unfortunates of the first fleet. From the tone of the interrogation, I half expected being sent to Botany Bay for life. What the terrorism police would have made of the unopened bottle of champagne could have spoilt my whole day. I had the temerity to ask what the terrorism police did with the confiscated items. That was none of my business. They just did as they were told and confiscated items. Having been through Germany on the European sojourn did not sufficiently prepare me for downtown Fascist Sydney.

Since my return, I have searched the internet to determine if there is a report of an examination of the objects seized by these airport zealots to ascertain if, in fact, the liquid objects contain anything other than what they purport to contain. In short, do the Brylcreme pots contain nitroglycerine? Who knows: the whole lot is dumped at great cost to the environment and the taxpayer. But the regulatory spin doctors security assure us that we are safe from terrorists, whilst ever this charade continues.

Where is the Minister when all this never-ending assault on the travelling public’s personal belongings continues? He is missing in action. I doubt if many in the Aviation scene are aware that the Honourable Anthony Albanese is the Minister irresponsible for aviation. Try as I might, I cannot find this worthy announcing anything to do with aviation, opening anything to do with aviation or attending something to do with aviation. It seems that, once started, a bureaucracy just rolls on unmolested and irrelevant until the earth becomes flat. If we are at risk of a terrorism attack surely the confiscation of various bottles may be a pointer to that type of attack. If, on the other hand, the confiscation is nothing more than a one-size-fits-all knee jerk reaction with no basis in fact, let us do away with it and devote effort to other, perhaps more useful, methods of foreseeing an attack or preventing an attack. Let us not just drift on in a state of blissful ignorance. Remember Pearl Harbour: a state of blissful ignorance. The Honourable Minister should be across the risk rather than complacently hiding from the aviation public.

Whilst I was overseas, the irrelevance of Australia in the world scene was stark. Brisbane suffered drenching rain, but a modest landslide in China was news. Politicians were stealing from the public purse in the UK and this filled most reputable papers. One of these honourable gentlemen charged the taxpayer for the cleaning of the moat about his second home in the wilds of Bedfordshire. Australia’s ASX did not rate a mention on CNN or BBC world news.

I have mentioned in a previous article that a man has been jailed for two months of a 12 month sentence for low flying. The District Court, The Queensland Court of Appeal and the High Court, in turn, stigmatized low flying as the dangerous operation of a vehicle sufficient to lead to penal servitude. The Honourable Minister must be aware of the High Court’s acceptance of this damning of low flying. Surely his minions in the aviation bureaucracy have made him aware. Surely, the Minister for Defence must be aware of this decision, as he has a large portion of his army aviators both in Australia and overseas indulging in this very necessary aviation pursuit. Is it to be suggested that a person in a military uniform is not subject to the rule of law?  Remember, low flying perse is criminally dangerous. Where does this place crop duster pilots, mustering pilots not to mention army pilots who have to fly low to avoid being shot down. Low flying is risky? Yes. But is it criminal? No. Where is the Minister for Aviation to ensure that pilots are not an easy conviction for eager state policeman? The Minister is missing in action. This confirms that Australia is, at best, a passing interest and, at worst, nowhere on the international aviation scene.

Watch this space…