BadgeIsBack

My thoughts:

The left (and I don't mean that in a negative way) will claim that some new laws are draconian and some evidence that Australia is now a country run by neo-cons with reduction of rights. I see that a suspect was detained and released quite quickly when a instrument expired - although elsewhere there is an instrument where this can be several weeks.

Anti-terror laws are a good idea. Australia is following the lead of the Uk and other countries where there was a threat or is still a threat. A less naive approach, maybe?

Dealing with potential terrorism in this manner is not playing into the hands of the terrorists - they are after all criminals - dangerous criminals. On the one had we must not be terrorised by them but we should deal with them as the criminals they are.

Only a few know of the details in these cases - that is the way it should be.
It may well be that an innocent is detained for days longer than they need to be - but that is process.

I agree with Zulu that Muslims need to deal with their own. After all, the secular West - the 'Christian' general public is quite happy to deal with (and censor) Christians in their midst(!)

commonwealth

Well Police visibility has increased in Sydney. And they're telling people if they see something suspicious call the police.

bra_boy

Injured sensibilities are the root cause of this problem.

Beoz

Alfresco

I still see police speed trapping during this high level of alertness.

commonwealth

It's part of "police visibility" efforts I suppose.

the troubadour

Hardly safe anymore in taking up a front line role along with recent other sensationalist happenings.

Was it ever safe though? Pine Gap and the US facility at Exmouth in WA would surely have made it a target of the Chinese or Soviets.

the troubadour

It does very much. High visible raids covered very well by Murdoch press make what you will out of that.

the troubadour

Unlikely to succeed. The Middle East has been a mire of quicksand throughout history of invaders. This is unlikely to change. This is not about religion and the continued reference to it, by outside observers is only going to worsen and get many more off side.

The forces of ISIS are more nationalist (right wing)inclined in their desires and use Islam to their perceived advantage.
The issue being of course if not handled properly leaving gung ho war comic stuff out of the equation, the risk of inflaming the situation and it going on for a very prolonged time indeed is more the likely outcome.

BadgeIsBack

Polly - Australia might have been a 'safer' option for a Cold War - a limited war back in the 70s etc (along with cultural factors - people wanting to drop out as well) but I think everyone has to agree that Australia is a target and has been for at least a decade.

I actually think in the League Table of targets that Australia is sort of low -
you might get more bang for your buck elsewhere - more people, more infiltration - more newsworthy.

That said, if Sydney or Melbourne copped a big bang it would be sort of a 9/11.

Notice how I have failed to mention Brisbane or Perth - see - there is a sort of league table in operation. Australia might have been certainly a soft target - but now it is hardening up.

Pollyana

I'm sitting on a double-edged sword here, with a job that would be at the pointy end if there were a terrorist attack on Australian soil. I, and some fellow Brits, have been voicing an opinion within our department certainly since I started there in 2004 - Australia will not know how to cope if and when there is an attack, because of their lack of previous experience, and their denial for so long that anything could happen here. I naturally hate and abhor the thought that an attack could take place, yet the disaster coordinator side of me says I really would like to see how the country copes and reacts.
Some moves within departments last week as a knee jerk reaction to the NSW hospital alerts suggests that plans are in place but methods for implementing them are not totally organised.

BadgeIsBack

I am not sure what sort of disasters you plan for - and I was under the impression it is was more weather-based, but the way I look at it is that Australia does have a police force, and a security agency. Planning does not *have* to be experience-based or threat-based.

It is not as if Australia would say 'Oh look a bomb! What do we do?'
I am the Chief Fire warden and everyone gets training on bomb scares etc - this is a facet of modern life in this world - you don't have to be in Europe to know what a bomb is.

Many Australian hospitals would have plans in place for big incidents - it might just be a big shooting - a big train crash - or a fertiliser explosion at a mine facility.

A beheading in public is the same as a shooting but it takes more time. Remember that Australian cops carry pistols - the majority of British police do not - personally I believe the British police should have armed in the 1980s - yet the British police still managed throughout the 70s, 80s and 90s unless of course the 'baddies' had a weapon and they didn't. No amount of threat or experience changed that factor.

Even the British Army did not routinely arm guards in the Cold war.

So I welcome the threat level increase, and the defined threat- but not all plans need to be rewritten. ASIO has increased the level and measure will be taken.
That filters down.

I actually believe that all disasters and terrorist events always initially take some sort of iniative (well-known to any military commander) which no
amount of training, experience or prep can cover. It's really about reacting and resourcing and relying on ASIO etc - the first line of defence.

Actually - was going to say - when these things happen - what often makes some difference of course is the local reaction on the ground - it's not the emergency services who get there first - it's the man standing on the platform - or the person who drags someone out - or someone who notices something.

Pollyana

We are the coordinators for any event which requires a multi-agency response within Queensland - and we also coordinate any assistance from here to any other State or territory. Of necessity our focus is usually on weather, but we have a far wider remit in the background. For example if NSW had been evacuating patients from hospitals hear the border last week we would have been involved in coordinating the movements.
I know departments do train for bomb threats, security alerts etc, and I am sure many of you as wardens, firefighters etc are ready but I can't help wondering how individuals will respond if and when the real thing happens. For so many people this is an alien environment and only when it happens will we know how the ordinary person, who has lived here all their lives, will react.

Taking you as a case in point Badge, your history from years ago is not that of a typical Aussie guy in an office who got the fire warden job by default and is now thinking 'oh @@@@' what if?'

jad n rich

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If there was a League Table right now, Brisbane in 8 weeks time would be Top Spot.

spouse of scouse

Would an individual in the UK or Australia respond any differently to a major explosion nearby, or to the horror of a beheading in front of them? I don't believe they would. Some things you just can't prepare for.