April 01, 2004

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No sh!t

Literally Australia's spies will no longer take any sh!t.

Australia's main spy agency will screen users of ammonium nitrate fertiliser...Miners use about 850,000 tonnes of the fertiliser annually to make explosives, while farmers use 50,000 tonnes for crops. Under the plan, the Australian Security and Intelligence Organisation would screen such users to monitor the use of the chemical.

The plan would require buyers of ammonium nitrate to show a genuine and legitimate need for the fertiliser and the ability to safely and securely store and handle it. "There will also be an investigation into the viability and cost of alternative fertilisers with a view to an eventual ban of ammonium nitrate if that is possible," Ruddock said.

Alternative fertilisers I can understand. Licencing a potential bomb ingredient I follow. But banning an explosive because its an explosive seems self-defeating. I look forward to seeing the ASIO questionnaire for those buying ammonium nitrate with questions including "Do you plan any terrorist activity with this substance? If so, where and when?" Are ASIO going to watch every storage depot, every barnyard? Will all farmers and miners with the name Mustafa or Hajib be banned from buying it? As an analogy, the Government gives out driving licences but there's still a hell of a lot of accidents and stolen cars.

It's good to know Australia's spies are going to be carefully monitoring almost 1 million tonnes of cr@p instead of keeping an eye on the various loonies who could actually use the stuff for nefarious purposes. It's like my football coach used to say: "Play the man, not the ball." I still have no idea what that means.

Now if you'll excuse me I have some fertiliser to watch.

posted by Simon on 04.01.04 at 07:13 PM in the




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