Secondary bag checks for Australian bound flights

[nerdinary]

Recently flying NAD - SYD, and just before the boarding gate, there's another set of security personnel with tables set up for hand luggage search. This isn't too unusual, I've seen it happen once or twice before, in Singapore, but always towards flights bound for Australian.

Anyhow, my turn comes and the nice lady looks though my backpack. Asks me if I have any liquids, and I shake my head. Passengers beside me are getting irked when their newly purchased "Fiji Water" bottles are being thrown out. This is surprising, since they bought these past security, but anyhow I digress.

The lady looks through my bag and reaches into a pocket where I have a 10ml hand cream tube that I got from an EY kit earlier in the month. She says "you can't take this because it's not in a clear bag". She throws it out and pushes me forward.

Realising the silliness of the situation, and known better than to mourn the loss of some hand cream tube I walk on. This got me wondering - what is the point of these checks? I have plenty of other compartments in my backpack where this item could have been kept, and unless it was a very very thorough search (which it wasn't), it would have been let though.

Also, why do these after-security-after-boarding-scan checks only happen for AU bound flights?

 

[Ade]

I've seen this done in Beijing and Hong Kong on AUS flights, but only for Qantas flights. Cathay and Air China don't seem to worry about it.

Oh yea ... mine was a QF flight from BKK.

 

[rginoz]

I've had these hand luggage inspections many times at Hong Kong International Airport, prior to flights back to Australia. Typically, the inspection is very superficial, so the effectiveness of the exercise must be doubtful. If it's safety related, why don't they do it thoroughly? No one would complain about that.

 

[Austman]

Cathay and Air China don't seem to worry about it.

I’ve had it done on CX flights. But I agree it seems a bit random.