Jaws dropped when colourful Liberal senator Bill Heffernan produced dummy explosives to make a point about security at parliament house.
"I just thought I should demonstrate today what a joke the security has turned to in this building," he told a Senate hearing in Canberra on Monday.
The senator brandished what appeared to be a pipe bomb and some sticks of dynamite to illustrate how easily such contraband could be smuggled past security.
His explosive revelation comes amid a trial of new scanning procedures at entrances to Parliament House.
Officials from the department running the building and the staff or MHRs and senators no longer need to undergo metal detector screening or to have their bags examined in an x-ray scanner.
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Politicians have always been exempt from such checks.
Still checked are all members of the public, journalists and contractors.
The change will save the Department of Parliamentary Services about $400,000.
Departmental secretary Carol Mills insists the saving can be made without compromising security.
"This is a way that we can allocate our resources to high-risk areas," she said.
Senator Heffernan was not convinced.
"This is stupid," he told Ms Mills.
The senator saved his best shot for another committee where high-ranking Australian Federal Police officers were appearing.
He produced what appeared to be a pipe bomb and several sticks of dynamite wrapped in tape which he said he'd managed to bring through security.
"Clearly you can do what you bloody well like," he said.
AFP commissioner Tony Negus said Senator Heffernan had alerted him to his planned stunt and he was satisfied the supposed bombs were inert.
He acknowledged that someone could bring bomb ingredients past security into the building over time.
"Under the current arrangements, that is a risk," he said.
Mr Negus said the AFP had expressed their concerns about the changed security arrangements.
"We have briefed the presiding officers of the parliament on our concerns and what we would put forward as being an appropriate level of security, and those elements are being considered," he said.
Comment was being sought from Senator Heffernan and from the Department of Parliamentary Services.
