Federal government disagrees, says plan is unreasonable

Australia's Labor Party has proposed a number of changes to aviation security in that country. The goal of the proposal is to strengthen security at regional airports that handle 50,000 or more passenger movements per year.

Labor Party opposition leader Mark Latham says that they propose an expenditure of AUS$17 million to install passenger screening equipment in the country's regional airports. Latham has emphasized the 9/11 attacks in the United States as examples of the worst fears come true when security is breached at airports, and says that the Labor plan will make travel by aircraft in Australia safer.

"We won't be taking any risks at all with the security of the Australian people. We want to ensure on the home front that we get it right, that we've got every single precaution and security device in place that's needed," said Latham to the Special Broadcasting Service.

However, Deputy Prime Minister John Anderson called the plan "unreasonable" and said that the ruling governments plan to equip these regional airports with handheld detection systems is more appropriate.

"This idea that you can mix screened and un-screened passengers and somehow have a better security outcome is just so much tosh. That's what the Labor party's built its campaign around. It doesn't stack up," said Anderson. He also added his opinion that the Labor proposal would put undue economic pressure on regional airline services that could result in their disappearance.

There are 17 regional airports in Australia that handled more than 50,000 passengers this year.

FMI: www.alp.org.au