The Need for Communication !

It is a long time since Australia faced the threat of invasion.  The last time was in 1942 when Japan entered the second world war with a sneak attack on the American Pacific fleet at Pearl Harbour and its military might conquered British, French and Dutch Pacific colonies and invaded our nearest neighbour, New Guinea.

At that wars end we were in the nuclear age and that delivered a mixed blessing.  The great powers have kept their finger off the Atomic button because a nuclear war would deliver Armageddon.  Wars are now proxy affairs, but a new way of war has evolved and to that we are very vulnerable.

The age of the computer brought with it the age of automation. A single computer could do the work of hundreds of clerks.  Over decades it has infiltrated every aspect of production and service across all industrial segments.  There is hardly a factory producing consumer goods that does not rely on a computer somewhere in the production process and this is particularly relevant in the electric power industry, banking and finance sector, transport and communications. A computer glitch can bring all of these to a grinding halt.

Unfortunately, skilled hackers can penetrate even the most secure system and the way is open for countries to bring an enemies economy to a standstill by industrial sabotage.  The blame can be sheeted home to terrorists hiding on their soil and they can claim innocence.  The damage done could be catastrophic with massive power blackouts, communications cut and banks and supermarkets forced to close.  Petrol supples would grind to a halt and public transport would cease without electric power.

Australia is now putting in place measures to reduce this risk.  Critical infrastructure protection will require the operators of electricity generation, petrol storage and delivery, ports, railway systems and the banking industry to supply detailed information on who owns, has access and controls the infrastructure and its systems.  Ministerial intervention powers will apply and the government will be looking at the source of supply for components which may be subject to interference by an outside body.

One of the problems of such an attack would be the communications blackout. The failure of the electricity supply would automatically close down radio and television transmissions and knock out both the landline and mobile phone networks.  The government would lose the ability to speak to the nation and  direct effort where it was needed.

We have in place a communications format which reaches into every far corner of this country.  It is ABC radio and the government would do well to see that every ABC transmitter has backup generator power and a secure form of relaying messages from a central point.  The public should be warned that in the event of a national emergency they should turn to the ABC for information and advice.

Without electricity, mobile phone will soon lose power and can not be recharged, but there is another massive battery source of reception available - and that is the motor vehicle.  Very few Australian families lack a car and every modern car has a radio.   The car battery will be long lasting to power that communication source and in an emergency situation the family car would be the unfailing contact between the government and the people.

That should become an integral part of this safety programme.