4 March 2011

New bomb trucks for the ACT

| johnboy
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Simon Corbell in a bomb suit

Simon Corbell has unveiled a shiny pair of new bomb trucks for all the ACT’s bombing needs. He’s also, as pictured, modelled a bomb disposal suit.

“The new trucks are state-of-the-art with custom made improvised explosive device defeat
(IEDD) pods mounted on each truck. These pods are the first of their kind in Australia.”

The two new trucks will enable ACT Policing’s Bomb Response Team to quickly deploy when
the need arises, carrying all the equipment to attend explosive related incidents, and
incidents involving chemical, biological and radiological hazards.

The IEDD pods also have the ability to be used in other incidents. The IEDD pods enhance ACT
Policing’s command and control capabilities during major incidents with the addition of in-car
computing and the ability to relay audio and visual footage from robotic vehicles to ACT
Policing command elements.

“The Bomb Response Team not only responds to bomb or explosive jobs, but also to incidents
where their specialised equipment can be utilised. An example of this is a white powder
incident where a robotic vehicle with video capabilities can be deployed to the area prior to
people having to enter,” Mr Corbell said.

No mention of what they cost or how we managed before.

UPDATE: Simon Corbell’s office has sent in this note:

Just so you are aware, there was bomb response vehicles previously in the ACT, these were upgrades to technologies and capabilities. Also The cost of each pod on the trucks was $220,000.

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EvanJames said :

And are these trucks necessary for things ACT, or things Commonwealth Canberra? I don’t see the Bungendore Town Council spending up big on bomb disposal trucks.

Well, bomb-disposal is one thing they do. Im pretty sure they’d also deal with situations like dangerous gas cylinders, gas leaks, and stuff just one step above what hazmat is used to dealing with. Sure, we might not have many bombings in Canberra, but Im aware of several times when police have evacuated areas because of threats such as hot gas bottles or gas leaks, which would be right up the bomb-squads alley.

Gungahlin Al said :

EvanJames said :

And are these trucks necessary for things ACT, or things Commonwealth Canberra? I don’t see the Bungendore Town Council spending up big on bomb disposal trucks.

Sheesh. We have the head offices of almost every FEDERAL Government department right here. With all sorts of vehicles able to drive right up to the back or front door of many. Oklahoma anyone?

I’ve often wondered about that. The level of physical security around most government offices, particularly Russell and Campbell Park seems pretty minimal. Of course, nothing would never happen here.

Gungahlin Al5:17 pm 07 Mar 11

EvanJames said :

And are these trucks necessary for things ACT, or things Commonwealth Canberra? I don’t see the Bungendore Town Council spending up big on bomb disposal trucks.

Sheesh. We have the head offices of almost every FEDERAL Government department right here. With all sorts of vehicles able to drive right up to the back or front door of many. Oklahoma anyone?

Meanwhile, I’m wondering how well Simon’s suit would do with the whole bottom half missing. Bit like a Hollywood hero who is the only one on the raid who apparently doesn’t need a flak jacket? 🙂

EvanJames said :

merlin bodega said :

How about we cut the ACT Police budget by 50%? That would mean we bought only one truck. There’s a saving straight away. We could get rid of half of them for no obvious impact on the murder rate too.

What murders? We don’t have murders here.

We don’t have murder convictions here. There’s plenty of murders.

merlin bodega said :

Dream on Tooks. If it was coming out of the AFP budget then it would be Andrew Leigh in the idiot suit for sure and not simply Simon.

You’re the one talking out of your arse. The ACT Government *DID NOT* pay for the trucks, neither did ACT Policing, the AFP national budget paid for them.

merlin bodega said :

Tooks said :

facet said :

’bout as useful and necessary as the Sydney water cannon for controlling riots.
The Federal Government should pay for this stuff or is the AFP just raiding local community resources.

The trucks are expected to respond to about 300 incidents a year, ranging from suspicious packages to white powder threats.

Sounds like it will be pretty useless. On the funding – I’m guessing it comes out of the AFP budget. Duh.

Dream on Tooks. If it was coming out of the AFP budget then it would be Andrew Leigh in the idiot suit for sure and not simply Simon. By the way has anyone ever worked out how much these wasters in the ACT Police are costing us? Everyone talks up big about the need to spend the money but never about the value.

How about we cut the ACT Police budget by 50%? That would mean we bought only one truck. There’s a saving straight away. We could get rid of half of them for no obvious impact on the murder rate too.

So it didn’t come out of the AFP’s budget? Ok then.

Brilliant idea on cutting the ACT Police budget by 50%. Either that’s a wind up, or you’re an imbecile.

merlin bodega said :

Tooks said :

facet said :

’bout as useful and necessary as the Sydney water cannon for controlling riots.
The Federal Government should pay for this stuff or is the AFP just raiding local community resources.

The trucks are expected to respond to about 300 incidents a year, ranging from suspicious packages to white powder threats.

Sounds like it will be pretty useless. On the funding – I’m guessing it comes out of the AFP budget. Duh.

Dream on Tooks. If it was coming out of the AFP budget then it would be Andrew Leigh in the idiot suit for sure and not simply Simon. By the way has anyone ever worked out how much these wasters in the ACT Police are costing us? Everyone talks up big about the need to spend the money but never about the value.

How about we cut the ACT Police budget by 50%? That would mean we bought only one truck. There’s a saving straight away. We could get rid of half of them for no obvious impact on the murder rate too.

You do realize ACT Policing is part of the AFP yeah?

I think you will find that those vehicles could be used to deploy anywhere that they are needed, anywhere in Australia.

Yeah sure cut ACT Policing’s budget by 50%, that would be great for the already stretched resources of the emergency services in the ACT. Yes it would effect the firies and the ambos to you knob.

merlin bodega said :

How about we cut the ACT Police budget by 50%? That would mean we bought only one truck. There’s a saving straight away. We could get rid of half of them for no obvious impact on the murder rate too.

What murders? We don’t have murders here.

merlin bodega1:46 pm 07 Mar 11

Tooks said :

facet said :

’bout as useful and necessary as the Sydney water cannon for controlling riots.
The Federal Government should pay for this stuff or is the AFP just raiding local community resources.

The trucks are expected to respond to about 300 incidents a year, ranging from suspicious packages to white powder threats.

Sounds like it will be pretty useless. On the funding – I’m guessing it comes out of the AFP budget. Duh.

Dream on Tooks. If it was coming out of the AFP budget then it would be Andrew Leigh in the idiot suit for sure and not simply Simon. By the way has anyone ever worked out how much these wasters in the ACT Police are costing us? Everyone talks up big about the need to spend the money but never about the value.

How about we cut the ACT Police budget by 50%? That would mean we bought only one truck. There’s a saving straight away. We could get rid of half of them for no obvious impact on the murder rate too.

Three hundred per year, wow, seems like Howard’s fridge magnet on terrorism didn’t work.
Very kind of the AFP to let Simon Corbell have the photo op given that no ACT funding was involved.

facet said :

’bout as useful and necessary as the Sydney water cannon for controlling riots.
The Federal Government should pay for this stuff or is the AFP just raiding local community resources.

The trucks are expected to respond to about 300 incidents a year, ranging from suspicious packages to white powder threats.

Sounds like it will be pretty useless. On the funding – I’m guessing it comes out of the AFP budget. Duh.

’bout as useful and necessary as the Sydney water cannon for controlling riots.
The Federal Government should pay for this stuff or is the AFP just raiding local community resources.

We had the ATM bombings in 2008-2009.

Snarky said :

I’ll let people who know about such things judge their value, but how many terrorist bombings have their been in Australia? I can only remember one that might fit, depending on who you believe, and that was the Hilton Hotel bombing in Sydney in 1978. Have there been any other incidents in which a vehicle like this might have been required?

Google ‘Colin Dunstan’ Einstein

Snarky said :

Tooks said :

So we should just assume that there will never be another major bombing or any other bomb-related incident and go without these trucks?

If you read the release, the capabilities of these trucks extend beyond just bomb incidents.

I never said or implied anything of the sort, Tooks – in fact I explicitly disallowed it in the very first sentence. I asked a question re our bombing-related history – have there been any other incidents apart from the Hilton bombing in which a vehicle like this might have been required?

I think your question was mistaken for someone with no clue wondering why the AFP should have such vehicles.

As redrfs and Tooks have stated the vehicles can be used in biological incidents as well. While you may not know, the amount of white powder incidents far out way the amount of bombings, yeah it might just be protein powder, talc powder or icing sugar, there are still a number of them that happen.

I would think having them is a lot like having a loaded gun, I’d rather have one and not need it, then need one and not have it. That’s my thinking.

Snarky said :

I’ll let people who know about such things judge their value, but how many terrorist bombings have their been in Australia?

Terrorist bombings, no. Nut jobs with LPG cylinders and talcum powder or other such weird and wonderful combinations, yes.

Corbell was in the Hurt Locker?

Tooks said :

So we should just assume that there will never be another major bombing or any other bomb-related incident and go without these trucks?

If you read the release, the capabilities of these trucks extend beyond just bomb incidents.

I never said or implied anything of the sort, Tooks – in fact I explicitly disallowed it in the very first sentence. I asked a question re our bombing-related history – have there been any other incidents apart from the Hilton bombing in which a vehicle like this might have been required?

Snarky said :

I’ll let people who know about such things judge their value, but how many terrorist bombings have their been in Australia? I can only remember one that might fit, depending on who you believe, and that was the Hilton Hotel bombing in Sydney in 1978. Have there been any other incidents in which a vehicle like this might have been required?

So we should just assume that there will never be another major bombing or any other bomb-related incident and go without these trucks?

If you read the release, the capabilities of these trucks extend beyond just bomb incidents.

And are these trucks necessary for things ACT, or things Commonwealth Canberra? I don’t see the Bungendore Town Council spending up big on bomb disposal trucks.

I’ll let people who know about such things judge their value, but how many terrorist bombings have their been in Australia? I can only remember one that might fit, depending on who you believe, and that was the Hilton Hotel bombing in Sydney in 1978. Have there been any other incidents in which a vehicle like this might have been required?

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