PHOTOGRAPHS FROM AIR

Otago Daily Times, Issue 23442, 5 March 1938, Page 4

PHOTOGRAPHS FROM AIR

FOREIGNERS IN PLANESf;':, AUSTRALIAN AIR MAIL ROUTES ' (From. Our Own Correspondent) SYDNEY, teb. 26. 1 Considerable .discussion has been aroused by a Sydney newspaper's .disclosure that!,.pilots, flying .mail planes on the interstate routes are concerned at, the activities of foreigners,: in -talqng .photographs, .of positions which might .fee strategically important to;,, #h invading enemy/ Several pilots urged action by the civil aviation authorities, to prevent foreigners; from' taking photographs on the airline routes. This practice, they said, was adopted in many other countries. It was stated that some foreigners have been taking moving pictures of almost the entire route from Brisbane to Sydney, particular at* tention being paid to photographing North and South Heads, where Sydney's principal fortifications are situated. On the flying route from Melbourne to Sydney, foreigners have been seen photographing the Hume Weir and other water.catchment areas with high-speed cameras. Considerable comment was caused by the action of a man who. photographed' the banks which separate Mascot aerodrome from the adjacent river. It'was pointed out by pilots that if a bomb blew a" breach in the bank the water would flood the aerodrome in a wet season, and. it would be-impossible for aircraft to land or take off at the field. The. Minister for Defence, Mr H. V. Thorby, said that the department knew that such photographs had been taken. The position /was being closely watched and investigated. In the interests of defence, he was to go to " extreme lengths" to prevent unauthorised persons from taking photographs from the air which might be prejudicial to the interests of Australia,

Mr Thorby said that he was taking immediate action to have the regulations under that Act revised with the object of preventing unauthorised persons from taking photographs from the air, and if additional powers were found to be necessary, they would be, provided. There were certain vital points in the national defences that had to to be protected, he said, and he would see that they were protected adequately. If necessary, action might be taken to provide that cameras carried in aeroplanes must be sealed so that unauthorised persons would be unable to take photor graphs from the air. A naval official said that it was the duty of mail-plane pilots whd suspected foreigners of taking photographs of proclaimed defence areas, to report the matter to the \ authorities. If the pilot was a member of the defence forces, as many of them were, he had power under the Defence Act to arrest the sus- ' pected man withoutl a warrant, " and take him," in the words of the Act, " before a court of summary jurisdiction to be dealt with according to law."

The. Defence Act' provides for a fine not exceeding £IOO, or imprisonment for six months, for the photograning of defence- works without lawful authority. The official pointed out, however, that because the recent. referendum deprived the Federal Government of control over intra-State aviation, the defence authorities could not prevent planes piloted either' by foreigners or British subjects from flying over defence areas. In fact, civil planes flew directly over the Garden Island naval depot every day. Consequently there was no way of ensuring that ill-disposed persons were not flown over or did not fly over, important Works, of which a skilled observer could make' a mental picture, to be recorded later in a sketch or in markings on a map. Nor was there any way of preventing a foreigner, if he" was licensed to fly in Australia, from chartering a plane and flying where he wished. ~; •'