New, beefed-up airport security legislation, set to be introduced into Parliament by the Coalition, will see Police given the power to approach anyone in an airport in Australia and demand to see their ID, all without cause or suspicion.
Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull and Home Affairs Minister Peter Dutton are set to unveil the new legislation later today, which forms part of the Coalition’s previously-announced $294 million package to boost security at major and regional domestic airports in a bid to address what the Prime Minister this morning labelled “dangerous times.”
The increased powers will give Police the ability to demand to see anyone’s ID at the airport, regardless of whether or not they suspect you are committing or planning to commit a crime; a thing that cannot possibly go wrong in any way whatsoever.
Speaking to 3AW this morning, Turnbull explained how the new laws would work, painting a wildly polite picture that will almost never happen in practice.
Police would be able to come up to you and say ‘Hello, who are you sir, can I see your ID?’.
Police are being trained to observe behaviour, they pay very close attention to people who are looking anxious or creating a suspicious environment.
Unsurprisingly, Dutton’s take on the matter was slightly more authoritative, suggesting it was an “absurdity” that police had to follow some bullshit like “the law” which previously prevented them from demanding ID checks on random travelling citizens.
https://twitter.com/michaelkoziol/status/996187926919659520
In addition, Turnbull again defended the planned introduction of US-style body scanning machines at Australian airports, hoping that an estimated 94% of all domestic passengers will pass through the machines after they’ve been rolled out across the country.
Despite all this, the new laws still will not call for passengers on domestic travel to produce ID when checking in.
Just another day in Coalition-led Australia, folks.
