Australian MP Bill Heffernan smuggles fake bomb into parliament building

The Liberal party MP smuggled the fake devices in to demonstrate the building's poor security standards

Bill Heffernan brandishes the device (YouTube)

An Australian politician successfully smuggled a fake pipe bomb and sticks of dynamite into parliament to draw attention to the building’s poor security standards.

Speaking to police chiefs, Bill Heffernan brandished the empty pipe and imitation dynamite declaring that the “building is no longer secure” during a parliamentary hearing about the new screening measures.

Mr Heffernan, of prime minister Tony Abbott’s Liberal party, said it was possible to “blow a tree the size of this building out of the ground” with the calibre of explosives he could have smuggled in.

“There is nothing to stop anyone bringing those ingredients in here over a period of time,” he added.

The head of Australia’s federal police Tony Negus agreed that under “current arrangements” there was a risk that someone could smuggle a makeshift bomb into the building.

It is hoped that new measures will cut costs and reduce security expenses by £220,000. They have been branded as “stupid, dodgy and risky” by the outspoken MP.

In 2009, Mr Heffernan had a knife confiscated during a previous attempt to highlight lax security.