Breaking News - Sydney Airport trials controversial full body scanners.

A FULL body scanner is set to go on trial at Sydney airport. The device, which will be trialled in early August, will produce a generic outline of a passenger and detect non-metal items under clothing. Federal Transport Minister Anthony Albanese assured passengers the device is safe. "The scanners are perfectly safe and one body scan emits 10,000 times less radio frequency energy than an average mobile phone call," he said today. The program is voluntary and any passengers not wanting to try the scanner will go through the standard screening procedures.

News.com.au
ABC News (AUS)

reply to post by MileHighClubber


I saw that. Ha glad I do not fly.

But they do have the appearance of not being anywhere near as invasive as the ones in the US.

Still, I will never trust them.... ever.

When I saw this just a few minutes ago in the news I was like "WHAAA?!?!?!" So I knew that I just had to post this.

But anyway, this is way out of line. I really hope this doesn't spread far and get approved in to Queensland or other states otherwise I'd be sooo peeved. And we're travelling by plane to Melbourne for holidays as well in a few months, talk about timing aye?

I always had a feeling Australia would increase all of its security in airports soon enough. They are following suit of other countries I guess.

Although when they say "trial", do they mean an actual trial where they will not implement it permanently if met with too much negative reaction, or a "trial" where they pretend to test but really it's just going to be put in place whether people like it or not?

I have to fly across the world to Russia soon - I wonder how much security checks will bother me on the way. Really sick of flying though, perhaps more money should be invested in non-flight infrastructure such as good train lines. I took a train from Canberra to Queensland and it was real fun, made friends with people on the train and everything which doesn't happen on a plane.

As far as I know Australia hasn't had any major terrorist threats related to airports?

I recently went through the scanner on purpose flying out of the US. I wanted to see what all the fuss was about.

No Big Deal...really. Just walk into a little booth...stand on the footprints...hold up your arms...and zap. In and out in like 5 maybe 10 seconds.

No body out in the open saw the image...I don't even know or saw where they were looking at the image.

And knowing that everyone had to get scanned made my trip less stressful indeed... no worries about anyone being a terrorist with hidden weapons or devices.

Now I understand the protests of some...I love my freedoms and rights as much as anybody, and i also understand the constitutional contexts as I love history and have a minor in US History. But really, it is no more intrusive than a breathelyser test for a DUI...

reply to post by DeepThoughtCriminal


Yeah man, they ARE trialing those things up to the 19th August but I'm not so sure yet on their motives. It was news to me, I only heard it today and it was posted today. I just saw this on the news but they gave it limited airtime, at least in my city.

Mate be careful when you go to Russia. Ever since that Breivik guy's personal files were found out it was said in the news that he supported a Russian political group for teenagers/adolecents and PM Putin. From what I heard, Russia is unstable in the streets at the moment for there have been racial attacks on dark-skinned individuals within the past weeks with some deaths to boot. As well as riots due to people from former Soviet-bloc countries taking jobs leaving ordinary Russians jobless.

Fists all-round

reply to post by AlreadyGone


I can see your point but this hasn't been tried on Australian citizens before and I personally wouldn't know their reactions to the implementation of scanners. Well, not just scanners but also full body pat-downs are being trialled with the scanners. Like you said, you're not worried about scans as if they were just uninvasive breathaliser tests but what if a person doesn't want to be scanned because of personal reasons?

The pat-down I reckon will likely be a big topic in a few months time as some people don't like being touched. All because they refuse to go through a body scanner, that will likely warrant for a pat-down.

Unless they do something different in Australia than here in the USA, it really is not as bothersome as going through a metal detector.

Further, if you are worried about going through a scanner based on physical features...don't worry. frankly, after about the 1000th scan...most security don't even see physical features....they all look the same. How do I reason this...I have an art degree.... the first nude drawing we did in class was cool...a naked woman...wow. by the end of the week and there after...she was just shapes and shadows and a subject for a sketch...that was all... purely functional...totally asexual.

If you have 125 planes going through an airport a day...and they on avg carry 200 people...that is what?...25,000 people... after awhile... all breasts and penis outlines look the same... frankly, I feel sorry for them because they may become jaded.