Qantas thinks it's paying for Pine Gap
Qantas has raised concerns that it could be paying more for security because of a military spy base in central Australia.
The airline raised the issue in a submission to a federal parliamentary inquiry which will begin hearing evidence into aviation security.
Qantas claims it has recently had to pay for 24-hour Australian Protective Service (APS) guards at the two commercial airports closest to Pine Gap - Alice Springs and Uluru (Ayers Rock).
The government denied the APS airport presence in central Australia was protecting Pine Gap or that Qantas was paying for it.
Qantas complained the government had failed to explain how paying for the added APS presence would reduce the terrorist threat to aviation.
"It is assumed that the actual purpose of these officers was protection of a facility of political and strategic sensitivity in the vicinity," Qantas said in its submission.
The inquiry, by the Joint Committee of Public Accounts and Audit, will examine issues including the regulation of aviation security by the commonwealth, airports' compliance with commonwealth security requirements and the cost imposts of security upgrades.
