Terror toilet ban requires tact: govt


A US demand for airline passengers to be banned from queuing for the toilet would need to be handled sensibly by Qantas, acting Prime Minister John Anderson said.

Qantas said it began informing passengers on Tuesday night about the toilet queue ban but it was too early yet to gauge customer reaction.

"The US Transport Security Administration are now requiring that passengers on flights to the US are not to congregate in groups in any areas of the aircraft, especially around the lavatories," a Qantas spokeswoman said.

Mr Anderson said the directive seemed a bit hard to handle, but he was sure Qantas would handle it tactfully.

"I guess what the US authorities are looking for is any kind of suspicious congregation of behaviour that might be in some way related to, you know, preparing for something nasty to launch an attack on a plane or something like that," he told Sky News.

"This is going to require a bit of commonsense and a bit of tact.

"I wouldn't want to overreact, but I'd have to say as the reports at the moment I have to say do sound a little bit hard to handle.

"And certainly I think that Qantas will handle it well, to give them their due."

Qantas is advising passengers during the safety instructions and the pilot's first public address of the toilet restrictions.

The airline would monitor the situation and had not yet formulated any additional arrangements for passengers seated a long way from the closest toilet, the spokeswoman said.

The US had not specified the potential threat posed by toilet crowding, she said.

Qantas was also continuing to liaise with the federal government about US demands for armed sky marshals to fly on selected America-bound flights although no start date had been specified, she said.

Australia's aviation security came under question with a report that a 73-year-old woman accidentally carrying a knife in her bag went undetected through Sydney and Brisbane airports before she was picked up at the Queensland regional airport of Rockhampton last week.

Edna Wilson, from Wagga Wagga, NSW, always carried an ivory-handled butter knife in her handbag, her son, Keith Wilson, said.

"Let's just hope all the terrorists are coming through Rocky -- that's all I can say," Mr Wilson said.

Mr Anderson also said he was not concerned by a report that almost one third of foreign cargo ships entered and left Australia without passport checks being carried out by Customs authorities.

He said security procedures were already in place to deal with visiting ships and these would be strengthened when new International Maritime Organisation (IMO) counter-terrorism security standards come into effect on July 1.

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Half of a set :halo:

Thanks a lot for the update on dealing with assholes.

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Catch22,

Obviously, the staff at the US Transport Security Administration has WAY too much time on their hands!

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Eudaimonia

How President Bush's respect has fallen.
How the mighty have fallen.

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Ryan » Send Message | My Post History
"Bend over and allow me to corkscrew you."

Considering that any terrorists could just buy seats all together in a little cluster if they really wanted to.... I want to know how they are going to tell a mother with four children that she can't line up for the toilet. Or the school field trip folks that the kids have to stay in their seats and not congregate in their cliques....

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Kitty's Lingerie
Kitty's 1000th
Surprise Threesome
Lazy Evening
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Once you can accept the universe as Matter expanding into Nothing, that is Something. After that, wearing stripes with plaid is easy. --unknown

It would seem the terrorists are getting what they want. Fear and the control of normal life. The only way to stop them flying jets into buildings is to stop flying altogether. I do not see that happening.

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Half of a set :halo:

You are quite right Catch22. Meanwhile the rest of us are paying for it. BWI airport recently began 100% inspection of all vehicles arriving...the traffic was backed up for miles.

Flying has become such a chore. I'd rather take a train now.

Where is all of this paranoia leading us? I keep thinking of the early story of the woman who was rushed off the plane before takeoff only to find that she had in her carry on lugage a few bottles of her own breast milk to feed her infant on the flight.

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Sex is one of nine reasons for reincarnation.The other eight are unimportant...Henry Miller

yes it is going overboard but preferable to 11/9

Catch22 are the airlines going to hand out the little bottles for ppl to Pee in.

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You never know.

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Half of a set :halo:

*Carefully checks the date*

Feckin' Hell.......... is it April 1st ALREADY???????

To quote a scottish comedy show catch-phrase....

"You've taken that TOO FAUR!"

DM

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The selfish, they're all standing in line
Faithing and hoping to buy themselves time
Me, I figure as each breath goes by
I only own my mind

The no standing in lines on board is true. There has already been trouble on one flight.

The pee bottles is from the Herald, but of course the Herald wouldn't make anything up.

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Half of a set :halo:

well why not do away with toilets all together

You could make commode style airline seats with a little flap for privacy and do it where you sit

Geez i am a genius

Mercury rises as biggest terror exercise


Australia was preparing for its most ambitious counter-terrorism operation to date in a multi-million dollar joint federal and state training exercise targeting chemical attacks, federal Attorney-General Philip Ruddock said.

Known as Mercury 04, or major national multi-jurisdictional counter terrorism exercise, the four-part drill will begin in March.

Mr Ruddock said the preparations, involving several federal and state law-enforcement and emergency bodies, were unmatched in scope.

"This is the first time that the chemical radiological and biological equipment that we've purchased will be tested in scenarios of potential threats," he told reporters in Sydney.

The exercises would position Australia to act quickly in the event of a chemical, biological or radiological threat, he said.

Mr Ruddock said personnel and deployment needs and the execution of orders would be determined, while any responsive weaknesses would be revealed.

"If you are not prepared, and if you do not take appropriate precautions to avoid incidents and threats, then you look vulnerable," he said.

"One of the concerns that we have is that the people who are involved with having to respond to particular emergencies are sufficiently practised in the skills that they are going to need."

The training would ensure "each person who has to play a role in relation to reacting to a particular emergency understands what is required of them", he said.

Mr Ruddock said in a world where terrorism was a very real concern, it was important to be prepared.

But while Australia faced a medium-level terrorist threat, he said people should not be alarmed.

"People should be reassured that there is a high level of cooperation between the governments of Australia and a determination to ensure that the people who are required to respond are appropriately trained and skilled," he said.

Meanwhile, federal Opposition leader Mark Latham said a single agency should coordinate Australia's national security.

Mr Latham said too many authorities and agencies dealt with security issues.

"The federal government really should embrace our idea of a department of homeland security dedicated to this important task," he said.

"The difficulty that we've got is that in Canberra there are 11 watch and control agencies in the event of a terrorist incident in this country - God forbid."

The federal government said three other exercises would be held later in the year as part of the $15.7 million national counter-Terrorism Committee Program.

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Half of a set :halo: