Antipodean Folly

1 December 2003


Australian Security Frisked Kiwi PM

It's nice to know that America isn't the only country in the world where airport security is handled by idiots. It came to light last week that Australia's security people pulled a middle-aged woman out of an airport line on October 28 and checked her for possession of explosives. Helen Clark, the Prime Minister of New Zealand, did not have C4 or TNT on her person. And the best part is, she told them who she was, and they continued their search anyway.

This goes a bit beyond the traditional rivalry between Kiwis and Aussies, both of whom are beloved by Kensington. The problem illustrated by this ridiculous episode is the degree to which security has become a catch-all excuse for stupidity, ineptitude and illiberty. "Sorry, but it's a security issue," is likely to do more to destroy western freedoms than Herr Hitler and Comrade Stalin did.

The odds on the New Zealand Prime Minister carrying weapons onto a plane for terror purposes are slim, even if Auckland were to exercise more foreign policy muscle than it does normally. So the likelihood of this search enhancing public security was small to microscopic. Indeed, because of the diversion of security resources to this non-case, a higher probability case may have gone unnoticed.

The idea that "everyone must be treated the same" flies in the face of reality. One cannot condone racial or ethnic profiling, but surely, there was nothing to be gained by searching Ms. Clark. Moreover, the subjection of Ms. Clark to what was an unreasonable search and seizure does not increase anyone else's freedom. Indeed, it sets a very low standard for searches. If the PM can be stopped and searched, then no one is free. Equality is not a good thing when all are slaves to a bureaucracy.

The Al-Qaeda attacks on America brought home to the international community that the world was a more dangerous place than was thought. That doesn't mean that the sacrifice of liberty for security is an acceptable response, because in the end, security requires freedom. It also requires some smarts that the folks at Sydney airport didn't have on October 28.

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