Police have stepped up enforcement of compulsory mask-wearing at Canberra Airport, the airport's chief executive has said.
Stephen Byron said policing had started to become more relaxed as the rules eased in the rest of Canberra, but recently it had been stepped up with what he called "aggressive patrolling".
Mask-wearing remained compulsory at the airport under a rule decided by the federal government but with the territory government allowed to decide how to enforce it.
Mr Byron was angry the federal government had not removed the rule across the country and that the ACT government had not taken the initiative to exercise its own powers.
Policing at the airport is done by counter-terrorism officers primarily there for an instant armed response. Mr Byron said making these officers enforce the mask mandate was nonsense - though he used stronger words.
"I don't think it's the job of counter-terrorism police to police masks," he said.
The policing seemed to him to have gotten tougher recently, in that officers were now approaching people sitting at airport restaurants without masks but whose meal or drink had not yet arrived.
But he reserved his greatest ire for the Commonwealth government which had "shown no leadership in getting rid of this law".
The rule was decided by the national cabinet (of state, territory and federal leaders) but left to states and territories to operate as they saw fit.
"The national cabinet has gone on holiday," Mr Byron said.
He was also annoyed at the ACT government for not going its own way on the airport rule but waiting for a national decision. It had removed other rules according to local needs, so why, Mr Byron asked, can it not do the same with the airport mask rule?
The ACT government has said the mask mandate at the airport was in line with national policy for all airports.
It accepted its role was to "implement the public health directions to enforce these rules" but didn't say why it couldn't remove the rule.
Mr Byron had some sympathy for the police left with the task of enforcing the current law.
"They have probably felt compelled to do something," he said.
"But it's dumb. The terrorism police should not be distracted from their main job by this nonsense."
Mask use has fallen dramatically at the airport despite the law mandating their use having remained.
Two months ago, about one in 50 passengers didn't wear a mask but now the airport reckoned it was about one in five.
