Airport cargo security concerns ‘being addressed’
Executive Director of the Office of Transport Security has stated:
“I can’t give you a 100 per cent guarantee saying that we’ve addressed [the issue] or that there is no risk,”
And this is after almost seven years of known flagrant breaches in transport security surrounding air transport in this country, including the conviction of a community-spirited public servant for speaking his mind, an undoubtedly expensive investigation by a British expert in transport security which delivered 17 recommendations for improvement, and no indications from government as to just how many of those recommendations have been effectively addressed, despite the promises of $37.8 million to be spent over three to five year periods.
It’s hardly surprising that no guarantees can be offered. Surely though, the least the public can reasonably expect are assurances that the recommendations have been actioned and progress reports made available for scrutiny. This issue gets back to the honesty, responsibility and integrity of government, which I’ve already stated elsewhere, I don’t believe exists.
What about accountability though? It’s an understood, but mostly unstated position that the general public don’t trust politicians and believe them all to be habitual liars. I know I wouldn’t trust a pollie any further than I could spit out a dead rat. Nice words and promises of dollars to be spent don’t count for squat in the final analysis. Let’s see the pudding. No evidence of actions taken, no reports on successes and advances achieved equates directly to no accountability being possible. I realise this is how government works, but surely, as those most likely to be impacted by inaction in regard to transport safety, we the public are entitled to be more than a little irate.