A classified booklet containing President Obama's Australian itinerary down to the minute, as well as details of his security convoy and the mobile phone numbers of dozens of senior US and Australian officials, was found by The Age on a Canberra street yesterday morning. The booklet, Overall Program and Orders of Arrangements, for the president's visit, was found by a reporter in a gutter about 100 meters from the front entrance to Parliament.Alan Dupont, one of Australia's top national security analysts, said the find was a "significant security breach".
"If that had got into the wrong hands, it would certainly put the President and some of his entourage at risk if someone could respond quickly enough to having the information. Even if you were an ordinary crim, there would be a market for that kind of book, so it's not good news," said Professor Dupont.
The 125-page booklet is labeled "In-Confidence" and its cover says the information it holds "is not to be communicated either directly or indirectly to any person not authorised to receive it".
Over 120 pages are dedicated to a minute-by-minute description of Obama's schedule, and it even discloses which limousine door the President will use at events.
"On a signal from the Presidential Advance Agents, the Prime Minister, [Australian ambassador to the US Kim] Beazley and [US ambassador to Australia Jeffrey] Bleich alight from their vehicles," the booklet states for the event at the Darwin air force base yesterday.
It also details "seating arrangements" for the presidential motorcade, the world's highest-security convoy. It lists the exact breakdown of Obama's Secret Service presidential protective division, including its "Counter Assault Teams" a "comms vehicle", an "intel car" and the "Hammer Truck" (Hazardous Agent Mitigation Medical Emergency Response).
Then there are dozens of mobile-phone and landline numbers for senior Australian and US military and civilian staff. The phone numbers included the mobiles of the US deputy ambassador and the US consuls-general in Victoria, Sydney and Perth; a marine major who is an embassy attache; three Australian air force wing commanders in Canberra and Darwin; and the Federal Police co-ordinator for foreign dignity protection.
Professor Dupont said, "It's incredible. It could be exploited down the track because it's got all sorts of numbers in it. And if you are somebody who could exploit that or sell it to someone who could exploit that, it could be serious because you could listen in to the telephone calls of people who are very senior."