Australia red-faced after Clark frisking

An Australian minister voiced embarrassment and regret on Monday over an incident in which New Zealand PM Helen Clark was frisked for explosives by security agents at Sydney airport.

‘‘It was obviously an error, a bad error, it’s embarrassing, we would hope this doesn’t happen again,’’ Tourism Minister Joe Hockey said of the incident, which happened late last month when Clark was transitting through Sydney on her way to visit New Zealand troops in West Asia. Clark revealed the episode during an interview on New Zealand Radio on Monday, and said she believed there would have been ‘‘an uproar’’ if Australian PM John Howard had been similarly frisked for explosives in New Zealand.

She had been randomly selected for scanning by a hand-held wand that picks up traces of explosive on clothes and skin, even though security officials had been told who she was.