Andrew had given the impression (to me at least) that he misunderstood the authority behind the use of the ASIC.
In my experience this is a very common misunderstanding held by many GA types. Too many holders believe they can wander around any part of any airport, take photos with impunity, invade other peoples' hangars or march through the Customs arrivals hall wearing the thing while paxing (now
that's a neat definition of a tool
) and so on.
I don't think CASA does nearly enough to make its ASIC holders aware that an ASIC is NOT some sort of Access All Areas pass to every airport in the country. I thought Monopole's first post summed up "lawful reason" neatly.
In addition, (I don't know if this was andrewpb's intention but I've seen it happen before) taking photos anywhere near a bunch of baggage handlers will often lead to a large aggressive rampie accosting you, asking about the reason for the photos and often suggesting several other uses for your camera
. There have been too many "Today Tonight" style exposes recently for anyone on a ramp to appreciate stray photographers. No one wants to be the next Virgin Youtube star.
FWIW (not a lot) I didn't think the initial ten responses given were all that horrible, and they all contained the info that was asked for, plus helpful extras about not getting detained and sourcing discount coffee, which are both useful things to know
Maybe I'm undersensitive.