Air force on standby for Games
THE air force will be on standby and able to scramble within seconds after G20-style security measures were approved for the duration of next year’s Commonwealth Games.
Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk said airspace over the Gold Coast will have the same security measures as were in place during 2014’s G20 Leaders’ Summit in Brisbane.
Ms Palaszczuk said Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull had confirmed he had asked Attorney-General and Minister for Defence Marise Payne to progress arrangements for a specified circumstances defence force call-out order.
“The order will ensure immediate response capacity and authority from the Australian Defence Force to any emerging aviation threat without the need for Ministerial approval,” she said.
“Under normal arrangements, responding to aviation threats requires approval from the Defence Minister at the time of the threat.”
This means the defence force will be able to respond swiftly to any threat rather than waiting for a go order.
Ms Palaszczuk said security arrangements for the Games were responsive.
“While our security preparations for the Games are well advanced, recent security threats overseas mean we need to be ever vigilant in implementing robust security measures during GC2018,” she said.
Ms Palaszczuk said security for the Games would include more than 3500 Queensland Police, 2000 Australian Defence Force members and 4200 private security staff.