FEDERAL Parliament has been put on high security alert after the discovery
of a suspicious white powder in a Senate office.
ACT Fire service district officer Ron Weston said the powder was found
inside a magazine which had been circulated throughout the building.
Mr Weston said it was a very low risk but authorities were being 100 per
cent certain the magazine did not contain a biological substance.
Those who came into contact with the magazine had been isolated, he said.
"They will be treated in the usual way," he said, but added they would not
need to go through the showers usually associated with an anthrax scare.
"We are following the procedures to ensure no rock is unturned."
Fire officers dressed in full protective clothing have entered the building
to remove the suspicious magazine, which will then be tested to determine
the nature of the substance.
http://www.heraldsun.news.com.au/common/story_page/0,5478,5464777%255E421,00.html
Also opportunities to make a killing in the chop chop trade...
MORE than nine tonnes of illegal tobacco has been seized in north
Queensland, the Australian Tax Office (ATO) has said.
A semi-trailer carrying 92 bales of so-called chop chop was intercepted
south of Cairns on Saturday in a joint operation by the ATO and Queensland
police.
Tax Commissioner Michael Carmody said $2.5 million in excise would have
been evaded if the tobacco had been sold.
"The Tax office has seized around 170 tonnes of cut tobacco and tobacco
leaf over the past two years with an excise value of $45 million," he said.
