Thank you for your recent letter regarding a new requirement for General Aviation pilots to be subjected to, and bear the cost of, regular security checks.
As you will be aware from the Fact Sheet you referred to, the details of the proposal are scant and do not cover issues such as:
• the type of background check that will be conducted on pilots;
• how long the checking processes will take and the implications of "failing";
• the rationale and justification for the 2 year renewal period;
• the rationale and basis of setting the $200 cost and which organisations receive the money and for what services/tasks;
• why sports aviation has been exempt from the new arrangements;
• which countries Australia has modelled/copied this policy from, or why the Australian Government may have seen fit to institute more rigorous requirements on Australian pilots than those in other countries;
• how the arrangements will apply to pilots visiting Australia; and
• details of the implementation and consultation plan proposed for the policy.
Labor's Shadow Minister for Urban and Regional Development, Transport and Infrastructure, Martin Ferguson is arranging for these questions to be put to the Minister's repress entatives in the Senate Estimates hearings that commence on 16 February 2004. If you have additional specific questions to-add to the above list, please feel free to write, or email them to Martin's transport advisor -
[email protected] or call Denise on 02 6277 4752 by Thursday 12 February.
While Labor supports improvements to ensure Australia has a rigorous aviation security system, we intend to pursue the issues you have raised to ensure they are fair and justified to that end.