Sadly I had some unpleasantness with the AFP at Shep's Hill this afternoon. I was initially parked on the sealed road by the fence and they asked a couple of us to move because they felt the gate to the sub-station was being blocked. I thought I had kept clear and it may well have been the second vehicle that hard parked unnecessarily close to me (we were two of only three vehicle on scene when it parked, though a fourth vehicle arrived later). Not a big deal though (or any deal), they said they were happy for us to be there as long as the gate was clear, so I happily moved onto the main part of the mound without questioning it, well away from the gate.
The AFP vehicle then came up and parked directly across the rear of my vehicle to block me in position and three of them got out. One started passive aggressivly giving me the third degree about my scanner. I was polite and gave them direct answers but they took my licence and walked back to a huddle near their car. One was taking down all my details and rego in their notebook while the person who talked to me made a phone call describing my alleged offences and asking if I "was allowed to do that", rapidly followed by "that's what I thought".
They were creating such a scene that by this stage others on the Hill were panicking and asking if they were allowed to be there.
Following the phone call, while still trying to save face, they were quick to return my licence and mumble something about national security before wishing me a nice day. Not wanting to create any friction, I smiled, said I understood and thanked them before they rapidly left the scene. It was pretty embarrassing.
Sigh. Is it really too much to expect AFP on airport duty to understand some fairly basic radcomms law?