Eight years on from 9/11, Rudd learnt exactly zilch

EIGHT years after 9/11, the Rudd Labor Government doesn't seem to have learnt anything about the nature of terrorism.

A report from the Office of Transport Security indicates it is bowing to union pressure rather than security needs. According to an article in The Sydney Morning Herald, the Rudd Government has long known of problems with the Maritime Security Identity Card program but still hasn't addressed the issue of preventing criminals convicted of terrorism-related crimes holding sensitive jobs in the nation's ports. According to the report, the MSIC scheme does not detect a "range of offences and behaviours that are known to have linkages with terrorist activity and the unlawful interferences with maritime transport and offshore facilities". The report comes as the union representing airport workers has gone in to bat for former Sydney Airport customs officer Allan Kessing, convicted of leaking a confidential report on airport security in 2005. Union officials say Kessing should not be penalised for taking responsibility for safeguarding people's lives. The Rudd Government's failure to tackle waterfront security issues and its continuing pursuit of Kessing indicate that it is remains beholden to the waterfront workers union. This is understandable. Rudd Labor is stacked with ministers and members who supported the wharfies' dishonest campaign to retain control of the nation's docks. Greg Combet, in particular, argued that the wharfies would not be able to meet the level of productivity, expressed in the number of container movements per hour, demanded of the waterfront employers. He and the wharfies were dramatically proved to be wrong when the employers trained novices - and, incidentally, women - to push productivity to levels previously unattained. According to a separate report by the Australian Crime Commission, crime syndicates already have an entrenched presence at some docks and airports and are exploiting holes in security. It is estimated more than 2500 maritime applicants for security cards have criminal records. That the Rudd Labor Government has sat on its report into waterfront security goes well beyond the issues raised by the waterfront dispute, however. It shows that the Labor Government is prepared to ignore matters of national security to keep its trade union sponsors happy. This is not the first time that the Labor Party, in office, has ignored the national interest to ensure that its supporters are not disturbed but all Australians should be concerned that their security is being compromised for the sake of a backroom, back-scratching deal by Labor insiders. With the McGurk murder still on the front pages of newspapers across the country, this waterfront deal is another reminder that the sleazy intrigues of NSW politics wash right through the current federal leadership and affect every deal that the Rudd Labor Government is engaged in. After nearly two years in office, the Federal Government is yet to show commitment to its election promise to an open and transparent administration. Now it is toying with security. On these matters, politics should be left at the door and the precedence should be given to the national interest.