In terrorism, the Howard government shows innovation to rank with J.K. Rowling. It has sent Potter-like packages to the Australian public for bedtime reading, though they are mercifully less long and less widely read.

Let's Look out for Australia, distributed in 2003, was side-splitting fun. Be alert, not alarmed. Ring a hotline if anything suspicious could be found, or seen, or sniffed. The section on veiled Muslim girls and Chinese (in Australia, they are still called 'Asian', whatever that means) was placed alongside a beach cricket scene. Evidently, terrorists don't play cricket, though recent evidence, vide India, Pakistan and England, would suggest otherwise.

And now, citizens, or rather immigrants, must be careful to lend their SIM cards to their relatives. The reasons might be honourable enough ­ to use the rest of the credit at some future date. The suggestion in Canberra is different: They might end up in a global conspiracy to target civilians, stretching from Scotland to Queensland, consumed in a Glaswegian fireball at a rather ugly looking airport or plotting to blow up nightclubs.

Then, in Australia, the accessory might actually be charged, as Indian doctor Haneef Mohammad was, for providing 'reckless support' to a terrorist organisation (or to be more exact, Sabeel and Kafeel Ahmed). Relatives should know better, though I am sure all readers must know everything their second cousins get up to. Naturally, not doing so renders you culpable.

The SIM Card Terror Case