‘Suspicious’ items sent to consulates

AUSTRALIAN police were investigating suspicious packages sent to more than a dozen foreign embassies and consulates in Melbourne and Canberra on Wednesday, part of a seemingly orchestrated but scattershot campaign.

Within the space of a few hours after lunchtime, emergency services raced to a string of diplomatic facilities across Melbourne and Australia’s capital that had received packages containing suspected hazardous material.

There was no obvious pattern to countries targeted by the packages, with consulates of the US, China, Italy, India, Japan and New Zealand among those targeted.

The packages are not believed to be dangerous, but police, fire crews and forensic teams were urged to use breathing apparatus as they documented and double or triple bagged the materials for further testing.

The US consulate in the city said it also received a “suspicious” package, which a spokesperson said was handled in coordination with the Melbourne Fire Brigade and the Australian Federal Police, who were “investigating the incident”.