Four people have been caught trying to enter Australia using fake documents, the Federal Government has revealed. Following reports that terror suspect Faheem Khalid Lodhi may have tried to obtain a false Australian passport, The Sun-Herald has been told the four were snared at Sydney, Melbourne and Darwin airports by high-tech machines used to pick up evidence of document tampering. The final roll-out of 400 machines - now operating at every Australian international airport - was finalised only weeks ago.
| We can only wonder how many got in before... |
While Justice and Customs Minister Chris Ellison would not reveal the nationalities or motives of the four, Attorney-General Philip Ruddock confirmed that terror suspects here and abroad were trying to obtain false Australian passports. Mr Ruddock said that if people in Australia "of interest" to authorities had their passports or overseas travel documents cancelled, they "may well seek to obtain other documents with a view to fleeing". People sometimes travelled on false documents because they had "other motives" than immigration or to evade criminal prosecution, he said. "And we've always taken the view that good border protection means good security." |