Sydney Morning Herald, “Be alarmed: Army’s lost weapons fiasco”
A STOLEN weapons scandal has embarrassed the Australian Defence Force, which is refusing to disclose whether rocket launchers obtained by criminals are from its stockpile – or even confirm that any are missing. . .
But a day after the Herald revealed NSW police were searching for eight rocket launchers – which it suspects were stolen from the army – the Defence Force refused to release any details yesterday.
One of the anti-tank weapons has been recovered, apparently in the possession of a criminal group. And the missing rocket launchers aren’t the only security breach the Aussies are dealing with. Sergeant Read of Victoria has apparently been hoarding stolen weapons:
Sources said items found included shoulder-mounted rocket launchers, more than 50 hand grenades, at least 30,000 rounds of ammunition, and more than 50 guns. . . Filing cabinets containing confidential army documents were among the cache. One report said there was enough to fill six freight containers.
Pacific weapons security
Australia and New Zealand have been instrumental in providing funding and training for arsenal security in small Pacific states. Most of the military-style weapons used in Bougainville and by tribal warriors and gangsters in Papua come from state arsenals, the Solomon Islands civil war started when government weapons were stolen, and the 2000 Fiji coup was carried out by civilians and rogue Special Forces soldiers using stolen army weapons. But if even Australia can’t secure its weaponry, what hope do these island states have?
Criminals, terrorists or both?
So who is likely to receive or use stolen ADF weapons? I personally am not too concerned about these rockets falling into the hands of terrorists, especially since most terrorist attacks using rockets or missiles have caused only slight damage: for example, the missile attack which failed to damage MI6 headquarters in London in 2000. Also, Australia has little history with domestic terrorism; the worst attack killed 3 people at the 1978 CHOGM meeting, possibly perpetrated by Indian cult Ananda Marga. (Not that Australia is not a target, but so far attacks have been restricted to Australians in Indonesia).
It seems like these anti-tank weapons are most likely to fall into criminal hands. Apparently the only use of a rocket launcher in Australia was by a bikie gang in the 1980s (I can’t find any more information) and it was sourced from overseas. But Australia has quite a few criminal organisations, many extremely violent. Examples of bloody gang warfare include the Milperra massacre and the Melbourne gang murders.
I noted in a previous post that criminal gangs rarely pose a direct threat to the state, but that this is changing as the boundary between between crime and war blurs. Australia does have groups who want to take on the state, as the frequency of riots in Sydney shows, and Australian criminals have also carried out assassinations of politicians and terrorist-style attacks on police in the past.
I should also point out that, especially in Sydney, many gangs are ethnically-based, usually immigrants, often from war-torn countries. The 2005 Cronulla riots demonstrated the racial tension that sometimes manifests itself in Australia. Many of these gangsters have little or no loyalty to the Australian nation-state as a result, and some would have no qualms about selling these weapons to the highest bidder, even if they were terrorists.
