Medium Risk of WMD Terror on Australia, Experts Say

A group of security experts said they do not believe Australia is likely to come under attack from a foreign nation using weapons of mass destruction or conventional arms, the Australian Associated Press reported today (see GSN, Oct. 12).

However, participants at a Kokoda Foundation conference rated as medium the risk that terrorists would use a radiological “dirty bomb” or another unconventional weapon against the island nation. Researchers in attendance assessed emerging security threats on likelihood, immediacy and consequences, according to AAP.

“Terrorist attack on Australia using conventional means was seen as the most likely threat Australia would face with both serious consequences and reasonably near-term timing,” said Raytheon executive and former Royal Australian Navy Adm. Bill Dovers.

“Terrorist attack on Australian offshore infrastructure ships and aircraft was a very close second,” he said.

Another expert at the conference, former Royal Australian Air Force officer Peter Nicholson, said avian flu was not likely to be used as a biological weapon, AAP reported (Australian Associated Press/Yahoo!News, Oct. 26).

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