Specialist police are being called to deal with a soaring number of home-made explosives in Queensland.
Calls for help to the Explosive Ordnance Response Team increased by 63 per cent from 2005 to 2011 and almost 160 per cent from 2012 to 2015.
While there were 42 incident responses in 2011-12, that number rose to 109 in 2014-15.
Authorities say while there is a terrorism threat posed by improvised explosive devices, they are also concerned about the dangers home-made explosives can pose to the community and emergency services.
The alarming figures are included in explanatory notes to the government’s Counter-Terrorism and Other Legislation Amendment bill, which would give police more powers following attacks.
“In some cases, home-made explosives may be as powerful as an equivalent weight of trinitrotoluene (TNT),” the notes read.
“The danger of some home-made explosives may be exacerbated through their instability making them likely to explode without warning.”
Although the reported use of home-made explosives in Queensland is low, its use has considerably increased over recent years, as evidenced by growth in calls for service of the police’s Explosive Ordnance Response Team and the increase in reported explosives-related offences, the notes say.
The EORT provides a specialist response to incidents involving explosives, acts of terrorism and chemical, biological and radiological incidents.
There were 23 complex tasks reported in 2011-12 compared to 55 in 2014-15 – an increase of 139 per cent.
Source: Brisbane Times