Fri "The Australian"
Qantas rejects PM's missile alarm
By Steve Creedy and Patrick Walters
September 05, 2003
JOHN Howard and Qantas chief Geoff Dixon appeared at odds last night about how best to deal with rising fears of missile attacks on commercial aircraft.
The differences came as the Prime Minister acknowledged the gravity of the missile threat, agreeing with claims in The Australian yesterday that the weapons posed a bigger threat than hijacking.
"I, in fact, mentioned this issue several weeks ago ... and I recall at the time there was a very mild concern from Qantas that I should raise the issue," he said. "But I did raise it and I would have to agree that on my understanding of the situation, the threat of something like this is probably greater than the threat of hijacking."
Mr Howard said Qantas and the Government were investigating devices that could thwart missiles as part of a wider review of aviation security. He warned that the Government and Qantas would have to weigh the costs as well as security considerations.
He could not guarantee the countermeasures would be employed "but we're trying, within the bounds of reasonableness and commonsense, to cover every base we can".
Mr Dixon said anti-missile systems such as those used in military aircraft were not the way to go. There was no specific intelligence Australian aviation interests at home or abroad were at risk from shoulder-fired missiles, he said.
Discussion about shoulder-fired missiles highlighted the need for a balanced approach to security, he said. "Where there is a risk, the most effective preventative strategy is for the relevant government to identify likely launch areas around airports, not for commercial airlines to install anti-missile systems such as those currently used on military aircraft," he said.
"The cost of installing such anti-missile systems is huge and their effectiveness is very uncertain."
A senior bureaucrat said yesterday the Government was constantly evaluating the threat from shoulder-held missiles.
"My feeling is, as far as we can be at the moment, we are addressing the issue across all its dimensions," the head of transport security, Andrew Tongue, told parliament's public accounts and audit committee inquiry into aviation security.
He said the Transport Department was working with other government agencies, including Defence, to understand the technical capability of shoulder-fired weapons. The US was endeavouring to assess whether such missiles had been smuggled into Southeast Asia.
Mr Tongue questioned the public perception of the shoulder-held missile threat.
"These aren't robust weapons that you can grab off the shelf, throw in a backpack, run around with, pull out of the backpack and fire them - that's the popular perception," he said.
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