The Leader of the Opposition, Tony Abbott, today showed his complete lack of interest in the nation’s security.

On the Today Show this morning, Mr Abbott admitted he knew nothing about the Rudd Labor Government’s measures to restrict access to a plane’s cockpit – even though his Senators have already voted against them in the Parliament.

He was asked if would support the Government’s attempt to reinstate these security measures this week, which were based on advice from aviation security experts.

He said:

“Well look, um, ah, I’m not on top of that detail, I’ve got to say, um, obviously, we need ah, we need to have, ah, proper security, ah, but, ah, I’ll have to come back to you on that one. Sorry Lisa.”

There is no excuse for Mr Abbott’s ignorance.

This national security issue has been raised in Parliament a number of times, including during Question Time when Mr Abbott was present.

The Government’s regulations close a dangerous loophole in our aviation security laws by restricting access unless an individual has an operational, safety, security or training need to be there.

The Opposition voted irresponsibly to disallow these regulations last year

As a result of the Opposition’s reckless actions, there are currently no effective legal restrictions on who can enter the cockpit of an aircraft.

That’s why the Government reintroduced them this week but the Opposition can choose again to disallow them.

This is yet another example of Tony Abbott opposing everything without thinking about the consequences, even in vital areas such as national security.

It’s clear that Tony Abbott cares as much about national security as he does about economics.