The Australian Federal Police Association (AFPA) strongly calls for an increase in security at secondary airports across Australia in the wake of the recent incident at Avalon Airport in Melbourne yesterday (Thursday, 6 March 2025), where a youth boarded a plane armed with a firearm.
Australian Federal Police Aviation Operations operate at major airports across Australia and some secondary airports such as Gold Coast and Cairns Airport.
AFPA President Alex Caruana said it was time for the Federal Government to expand aviation security to large and secondary Australian airports, such as Hobart Airport and Avalon Airport, that accept and depart domestic flights from major airline carriers.
“To have someone allegedly walk through a hole in a fence and board a plane armed with a firearm and knives should not happen. It’s a significant lapse in security that this incident occurred, and it’s also a lapse in national security by the Federal Government that full-time permanent AFP Aviation members do not protect airports such as Avalon and Hobart.
“Avalon Airport has flights arriving and departing all the time and has international airport status. It’s a busy airport and could be utilised as the main Melbourne airport if Melbourne International Airport is closed.
“Hobart Airport has been a concern of the AFPA for some time. It’s also an international airport that has international flights arriving and departing and does not have an AFP presence, and that needs to change,” Mr Caruana said.
The AFPA is calling on the Federal Government to improve security arrangements at secondary airports and increase funding for the AFP so that full-time teams can be implemented at Avalon and Hobart Airports.
Mr Caruana said that the AFP’s most significant issues will be staffing and resources, as the organisation is already stretched to provide security arrangements at airports nationwide.
“We’ve had concerns with AFP staffing levels at airports across Australia for some time. We know that Sydney, Darwin, and Melbourne Airport aviation teams often struggle to fill shifts and appropriately resource these locations. We understand that the AFP’s approach is to fly in and fly out officers from different locations to assist in policing airports. This demonstrates poor planning and budgetary spending.
“Our members on the tarmac and in the terminals do a fantastic job with their limited resources and numbers they have. They work hard and prioritise the safety of travelers and visitors over their own. If the Federal Government were serious about aviation security, they would fund the AFP appropriately and build capacity and capabilities instead of leaving locations such as Avalon and Hobart vulnerable,” Mr Caruana said.
For comments:
AFPA Media and Government Relations Manager Troy Roberts – (02) 6285 1677 – troy.r@afpa.org.au
