Queues stretch out front door after alleged plot to bomb a plane as government refuses to rule out checking ID on domestic flights

This article is more than 3 years old

This article is more than 3 years old

Bill Shorten has suggested that domestic passengers at Australian airports should be made to show ID as part of increased security measures following an alleged plot to plant a bomb on a plane.

All Australian domestic flights allow self check-in, meaning it is possible to get on a plane without any identification and without the name on the ticket being checked by airport staff.

Shorten suggested that might need to be reviewed in response to the alleged terrorism plot uncovered by the Australian federal police on Saturday.

“It seems to me at first blush to be a bit sensible that you know who’s actually getting on the plane,” he told Radio National on Monday.

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The justice minister, Michael Keenan, said requiring passengers to show ID would increase the time taken to check in and that inconvenience would need to be balanced against the benefit to public safety.

“I’m not going to rule things in or out but if there was a requirement to do that to keep the Australian people safe then obviously we would do that,” Keenan told the ABC.

Heightened security caused long queues and delayed check-ins at Australia’s two busiest airports, Melbourne and Sydney, on Monday morning, as passengers were warned to arrive at least two hours’ early for domestic flights to allow time to get through security.

The queue for the security checkpoint at Sydney was already dozens deep by 5am. By 8am the queue for the Qantas terminal at Sydney stretched out the front door.

Mary Lloyd (@MaryLloyd4) The queue now stretches outside the terminal and down the entire length of T2 st Sydney airport. pic.twitter.com/odKbrQ6Z54

Wendy Carlisle (@Wendycarlisle) Extraordinary queues to check in here at Sydney Airport. Not even sure what queue I'm in #SydneyAirport pic.twitter.com/xUBQi2Bonw

In Melbourne, Australian federal police and Victoria police officers walked among the security line, which was pushed back to the terminal doors.

Aneeka Simonis (@AneekaSimonis) AFP and @VictoriaPolice officers patrolling Melbourne airport as queues form outside security gates. Heavy traffic coming in @theheraldsun pic.twitter.com/XqVobjHnxb

Matt (@mattchamley) Heightened security at Sydney airport. Give yourself extra time to clear screening. @SydneyAirport @Qantas well done... very well managed. pic.twitter.com/g6qniWujOC

Keenan said the extra security measures were necessary and Australian airport security was “among the best in the world”.

He deflected criticism from security experts who suggested that scanning to detect metal objects left airlines vulnerable to attacks using toxic gasses or other substances, which can be hidden in plastic canisters.

“Scanning is of course part of the multilayered approach that we have but it’s not the only thing we do,” he said. “Anyone passing through an Australian airport today will see extra security but they will only see part of the multilayered approach that we do.”

He would not elaborate on other security measures, telling the ABC’s Fran Kelly: “What we don’t do is provide a how-to guide of how to defeat them.”

The prime minister, Malcolm Turnbull, thanked “the travelling public for their forbearance” and said both the extra security and the delays might continue for some time.

“[Security measures] will be required for as long as the threat is assessed as requiring them,” he told the ABC.

He would not comment on the details of the investigation, except to say: “It will be alleged that this was an Islamist, extremist terrorist motivation.”

The federal government has refused to confirm reports about the homemade bomb at the centre of the alleged terror plot.

“There will be lots of speculation around about what the intent was, but obviously all of us have been working hard over recent days and we rely upon the expertise of the federal police and Asio and other agencies,” the immigration and border protection minister, Peter Dutton, told the Nine Network on Monday.

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“There is a lot of speculation around and I don’t want to add to that,” Dutton said.

Keenan echoed that comment. “It was a very sophisticated plot and the allegations are that they will have done extensive planning for this,” he said. “I guess what I can say is that we have been very alive to these sorts of plots for some time.”

Police described the plot as “Islamist-inspired”.

Keenan would not say if the four men arrested in the raids had direct links to Islamic State, or whether they had been on Australian or international terrorism watchlists.

“Those links are going to have to be detailed at a later stage in terms of links that they might have back to the Middle East,” he said.

The four men have not been charged. On Sunday, a Sydney magistrate granted authorities an additional period of detention, meaning the men can be held without charge for up to seven days while the investigation continues.