Parliament House security officer tasted suspicious white powder

A security officer dipped his finger in a suspicious white powder in a stairwell and tasted it to confirm it wasn’t a threat.

Parliament House in Canberra. Picture Kym Smith

One of the most senior security officers at Parliament House confirmed he dipped his finger into a suspicious white powder late last year and tasted it to confirm that it was not a safety threat, despite having access to mobile testing kits.

Australian Parliament House assistant secretary security branch Graeme Anderson told the Senate Finance and Public Administration Legislation Committee estimates hearing this morning that the incident, on November 22 last year, was low grade and he had assessed that it was not likely to be anthrax.

Labor senator Kimberley Kitching grilled Mr Anderson on whether he observed protocol because anthrax has neither taste nor smell.

Mr Anderson said there are two types of white powder alarms in Parliament House and Type 1 is assessed as “not being a risk to safety or a biological agent”.

“So you made an assessment by tasting it,” Ms Kitching asked.

Mr Anderson responded: “Yes.”

“I handled this incident in exactly the same way it would have been handled in the Australian Federal Police,” Mr Anderson told the committee.

“My assessment is based on the evidence available to me.”

At one stage during the exchange, which became heated, Liberal senator Scott Ryan intervened on behalf of Mr Anderson.

“Senator Kitching, the assistant secretary has more security experience than anyone else in this room,” he said.

The offending powder happened to be sugar, found on a stairwell balustrade not far from a parliamentary cafe.

In another security update revealed at the estimates hearing, a 1000-page Parliament House security manual that went missing has still not been found although three separate reports have been commissioned into how it was lost.

Labor senator Kimberley Kitching. Picture: AAP