Deputy prime minister John Anderson is
often called “The Minister for Qantas.” But how spooky is it when both
Anderson and Qantas speak and think the same way about airport
security.

Take Sydney Airport. It no longer belongs to the
federal government, and yet he seems to think it does. Sydney Airport
is owned by investors, led by the Millionaire Factory at Macquarie
Bank, yet Anderson believes the NSW government has a responsibility to
supply policing services to Sydney Airport for nothing. The NSW
government says it will supply police at $80 an hour because it’s not a
NSW responsibility.

The Victorian government is sending police
each day to Melbourne airport, but not baggage checking or
anti-smuggling patrols. They will be patrolling the public areas in
pairs. And who will pay? The privately owned Melbourne Airport or
Victorian taxpayers?

If anything, it’s a federal
responsibility, just like it was before it was privatised. Federal
police are there along with Australian Protective Services Group staff.
It is a national security problem, not a NSW security problem.

As
Max Moore Wilton, the CEO of the Airport is fond of telling the public
of Sydney, the airport controls everything, even the roads, even Qantas
Drive that links the Domestic and International Terminals. So why is
John Anderson criticising the NSW government for offering policing at a
price?