White Powder Sent To Indonesian Consulates In Australia, A Month After Bali Nine Executions

Envelopes containing white powder were sent to three Indonesian consulates in Australia, Australian federal authorities said Wednesday. The white powder, sent to consulates in Melbourne, Sydney and Perth, raised fears that it could be anthrax or another dangerous substance.

Australian Federal Police (AFP) said they responded to a chemical scare in south Sydney after a woman at the Indonesian consulate opened an envelope with a suspicious white powder, according to the Daily Telegraph. Hazmat crews were present at the scene and a man was tested by paramedics, but did not require treatment. The white powder was taken away for further tests.

Similar suspicious substances were also found at the consulates in Perth and Melbourne. "The substance at the Perth and Melbourne locations have been deemed non-hazardous and the substance at Sydney has been taken away for further testing," an AFP spokeswoman said, according to the Daily Telegraph. "The AFP is investigating all three matters."

Indonesia’s consulates in Australia have been targeted previously, before the executions of the Bali Nine duo, Australians Andrew Chan and Myuran Sukumaran. A woman threw balloons filled with red paint at the Sydney consulate in March, before Jakarta executed the two men for drug smuggling in April.

White powder was also sent to the Indonesian Embassy in Canberra earlier this month, although it was later deemed safe.

The executions have caused a major diplomatic dispute between the two nations, with Australia recalling its ambassador to Jakarta over the incident after Indonesia went ahead with the executions despite calls for clemency from Canberra.