24 November 2009

Do you feel safer in Canberra?

| Funky1
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Being the seat of Federal Parliament and with so many Dept of Defence facilities in the area, do you feel safer living in Canberra than anywhere else in the Nation?

I recall when the previous U.S. President (was it Bush or Clinton) stayed a few nights in our Capital city, the F18 flew overhead constantly 24 hours a day and surely we have more AFP officers per capita than any other city.

But I noticed something yesterday and today that alarms me a little. On the way to work both mornings and travelling up Yamba Drive, when you start to go around Parliament House, there’s rather large, full garbage bag sitting on the side of the road, between the road and Parliament House. Now surely someone of authority must have seen it there and thought (even ever so slightly) “what if there’s a bomb or some other incendiary device in that bag?” It was less than 100 metres from Kev’s place as well (which some of you may wish was a bit closer if it was such a device) and across the road from the U.S. Embassy.

Now it may just be (and probably is) someone’s garbage that has fallen off the back of a ute or trailer as they entered the curve, but am I being paranoid or should such items be investigated and removed as a matter of course?

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A Well Decked Out “Homeless Guy” does not own a wifi laptop and a sw radio,HE OWNS A HOUSE!you pillik!

dot3 why do you have to wonder at the homeless guy in the red van having a wifi laptop and a shortwave radio?

Holden Caulfield said :

Won’t somebody, please, think of the blue Falcon!

a haha ha ha ahahahaha…I have tears rolling down my cheeks…

I feel safer living in Canberra than I do in other Australian cities. I don’t know why – it probably isn’t rational … but I do feel quite safe here. I go running at night after dark, through local parks – I would never do that in other cities. I also feel much safer in Australia than I do in a very large number of places in the world. We are really lucky to live here (in Canberra and also Australia generally).

Nick Sundance said :

sloppery said :

I reckon you’re probably more likely to get hit by lightning than blown up in Canberra.

Sloppy, the World Trade Centre was more likely to get hit by lightning than be hit by an aeroplane…

I can’t believe its post 31 before somebody trots this old warhorse out either : http://www.ag.gov.au/agd/WWW/rwpattach.nsf/VAP/(CFD7369FCAE9B8F32F341DBE097801FF)~s000Phase+one+-+Let+s+Look+Out+for+Australia+-+Press+advertisement.PDF/$file/s000Phase+one+-+Let+s+Look+Out+for+Australia+-+Press+advertisement.PDF

(apologies in advance for not being able to link – I’m IT illiterate)

Back to the OP, give them a call…

Well I was being alert. Because we need more lerts, don’t we. 🙂

Nick Sundance said :

sloppery said :

I reckon you’re probably more likely to get hit by lightning than blown up in Canberra.

Sloppy, the World Trade Centre was more likely to get hit by lightning than be hit by an aeroplane…

I can’t believe its post 31 before somebody trots this old warhorse out either : http://www.ag.gov.au/agd/WWW/rwpattach.nsf/VAP/(CFD7369FCAE9B8F32F341DBE097801FF)~s000Phase+one+-+Let+s+Look+Out+for+Australia+-+Press+advertisement.PDF/$file/s000Phase+one+-+Let+s+Look+Out+for+Australia+-+Press+advertisement.PDF

(apologies in advance for not being able to link – I’m IT illiterate)

Back to the OP, give them a call…

I’ll remember that next time I’m a 100 story building in NY…

Nick Sundance4:09 pm 26 Nov 09

sloppery said :

I reckon you’re probably more likely to get hit by lightning than blown up in Canberra.

Sloppy, the World Trade Centre was more likely to get hit by lightning than be hit by an aeroplane…

I can’t believe its post 31 before somebody trots this old warhorse out either : http://www.ag.gov.au/agd/WWW/rwpattach.nsf/VAP/(CFD7369FCAE9B8F32F341DBE097801FF)~s000Phase+one+-+Let+s+Look+Out+for+Australia+-+Press+advertisement.PDF/$file/s000Phase+one+-+Let+s+Look+Out+for+Australia+-+Press+advertisement.PDF

(apologies in advance for not being able to link – I’m IT illiterate)

Back to the OP, give them a call…

sepi said :

I thought Canberra had the least police per capita in australia?

They may be good at terrorism stuff – who knows. But they aren’t known for being much good at responding to calls about property damage or noise complaints = general community policing type stuff.

ACT police are hopeless. Property damage and noise complaints should be a priority. Bugger the robberies, burglaries, assaults, drink drivers, domestic violence, car prangs, shoplifters, other disturbances etc. They need to get their priorities straight.

OK if we aren’t worried about the bag or the blue Ford, then what about the crappy red van that gets around Parlimentary Cirlce area all the time… yep I know he is homeless but for a homeless guy he is well decked out with wifi laptop, shortwave radio ???? you got to wonder !

I thought Canberra had the least police per capita in australia?

They may be good at terrorism stuff – who knows. But they aren’t known for being much good at responding to calls about property damage or noise complaints = general community policing type stuff.

somewhere_between_bundah_and_goulburn said :

I don’t feel safe in Gungahlin, too many juvenile delinquents. I’ve heard that the ACT has the highest level of them as well, though I don’t remember where I got it from

Bwa ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha.

I reckon you’re probably more likely to get hit by lightning than blown up in Canberra.

somewhere_between_bundah_and_goulburn8:29 am 26 Nov 09

Holden Caulfield said :

Won’t somebody, please, think of the blue Falcon!

I have been looking for a car these days

Holden Caulfield8:26 am 26 Nov 09

Won’t somebody, please, think of the blue Falcon!

My suggestion, it was left behind by mistake by one of the gardeners from Parliamentary Services. Not a big story at all but perhaps a reaction to years of brainwashing and conditioning by the Coalition of the Willing.

Oh no! A moving bag! That’s even worse… it must be an incendiary device! A remote-controlled incendiary device! Run! Run for your lives!

kean van choc6:24 pm 25 Nov 09

Strange as it sounds, I think the bag has simply moved. It is now next to the cycling/walking/jogging/whatever path that runs through the grounds of Parliament House…

vg said :

“and surely we have more AFP officers per capita than any other city”

Obviously Sherlock, as we’re the only jurisdiction in Australia where the AFP performs a primarily community policing role

So by default my statement is correct!

Perhaps constructive comments relating to the topic (do you feel safer in Canberra?) would be more welcome.
🙂

“and surely we have more AFP officers per capita than any other city”

Obviously Sherlock, as we’re the only jurisdiction in Australia where the AFP performs a primarily community policing role

the bag was there at 4PM yesterday and gone by 10AM this morning

so I’m guessing they read it on RiotACT last night and got something done about it

I’m pretty confident that if terrorists struck they go for maximum exposure and damage.
So i’d feel unsafe in Sydney.

Maybe the bag is full of stolen cash? Or state secrets? Or kittens? Or Doritos?

I think I have to head over there RIGHT NOW and look in it!

Paranoid and a goose..

Holden Caulfield1:01 pm 25 Nov 09

Well, the blue Falcon is still on the side of the road. ZOMG, what if … what if it has bombz inside?! We’re all doomed!!!

Went past this morning and the bag was gone. So hopefully some did do their job (even if it was a few days late).
Makes you wonder, if you did try something like this as a social experiment (or a Chaser skit) just how far you could go. I bet if you tried to dump a bag right out the front of the US Embassy, it wouldn’t be there for long.

No I don’t feel safe in Canberra but it not’s not due to terrorism. If terrorists and such wanted to do some damage they wouldn’t come to Canberra really and anyway they could just snipe anyone they wanted from mt ainslie haha. The guards are good at their job, if it was a problem issue they’d have investigated it, if its garbage is just that. Trust me on that those buffoons bother me all the time!

maybe the guards did pop over for a squizz, determined it was merely someone’s refuse and of no further security concern – and like the rest of us, expected (vainly) that canberra’s [cough] efficient civic administrators would attend to the bag and remove it…

Yes, you’re being paranoid, but you’re not alone.

Even at the height of the IRA’s bombing campaign in England, which saw bombs going off every couple of months in London, there wasn’t this paranoia we are seeing in the modern western world.

Of course, the IRA didn’t intentionally try to kill as many people as possible, they just wanted to blow up buildings to get attention. The terrorist actions we see today, although far less regular, even unheard of in most countries like Australia, are just that little bit scarier.

The day that I start worrying about random garbage bags on the ground will be the day one of them actually blow up.

Stop falling for overhyped, American paranoia!

Wow, thats wierd. I noticed the exact same garbage bag you mentioned and thought the same thing.

Holden Caulfield10:42 pm 24 Nov 09

Geez, I hope you haven’t seen the dark blue Falcon on the side of the road on the city bound side of Commonwealth Avenue. It’s been there for well over a week. We must be safer here, because I can’t believe it hasn’t been trashed or looted yet.

if it hasn’t blown up after a couple of weeks(months?) I’m sure the AFP bomb squad will feel they need to deal with it.

somewhere_between_bundah_and_goulburn9:56 pm 24 Nov 09

I don’t feel safe in Gungahlin, too many juvenile delinquents. I’ve heard that the ACT has the highest level of them as well, though I don’t remember where I got it from

I noticed the very same bag of rubbish myself. Pretty poor effort on the Lodge’s security guards to not have gone and checked it out seeing as it is only about 100m from the gates.

I’m sure it is nothing sinister but even so…having it sit there for two days is not a good look. Will be interesting to see if it is still there tomorrow…

We live in Canberra, not Baghdad, so it’s safe to assume that it’s a bag of garbage. Australian political leaders have pretty light security (when I’ve seen Howard and Rudd around town they only had a couple of guards with them and I’ve been to an event where Julia Gillard arrived by herself) so I guess that the experts don’t think that there’s much of a threat

Pull over and take a look, or call Canberra Connect to come pick it up. No doubt it’s a bag of rubbish escaped or dumped. It would have blown up by now if it was something sinister.

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