Both cases involved security alerts sparked by mailed powder that later was deemed harmless.
Friday's scare came when officials briefly shut down a loading dock at Parliament House after a white powder was found in a package addressed to Foreign Minister Alexander Downer. Police later said the powder was not dangerous and that they were investigating the sender's motive.
"We do take this seriously; it's a threat against people but it's also extraordinarily inconvenient to everyone concerned," Australian Federal Police Commissioner Mick Keelty said.
A powder sent separately on Wednesday to the Indonesian Embassy was suspected to have been retaliation for the 20-year sentence handed last week to Schappelle Corby on Indonesia's Bali island for marijuana smuggling, Prime Minister John Howard has said.
That sparked a major security alert, with the government initially announcing that it contained a bacteria that could be the type that creates anthrax.
Testing concluded that the substance posed no "health hazard to humans," Australian Capital Territory Chief Health Officer Charles Guest said in a statement Friday, though he didn't identify the substance. He said the embassy could safely reopen.
Police said they were investigating whether the incidents were related. "There is no evidence at this stage that links the two, however there is an ongoing investigation," Sgt. Steve Cook said.
Howard said on Friday -- an hour before the Downer package was seized --
"There's always a danger, you've got to understand you're dealing with 220 million people (in Indonesia) and equally we're dealing with 20 million people in Australia. You've got crazy people in this country who will do irresponsible things," Howard told Melbourne radio 3AW.
Howard and other officials have sought to calm Australians' tempers over the verdict for 27-year-old Corby, saying that threats against Indonesian interests would not help her case.
Officials in Indonesia, which has had sometimes-prickly relations with Canberra, played down chances that the anthrax scare would harm relations, with Indonesian Vice President Jusuf Kalla on Thursday saying he accepted Howard's quick apology for the powder scare.
"As things settle down, I wouldn't expect there will be long-term damage but it is a difficult relationship," Howard said.
Corby's plight has transfixed Australia, but she has little sympathy in Indonesia where the government is under pressure to crack down on rampant illegal drug use that kills scores of young, mostly poor people each year.
A Corby support group said they were sending flowers daily for five days to the embassy staff since the anthrax scare as part of their strategy to win her freedom.
Claire Oelrichs, a member of the Schapelle Freedom Network, said she agreed with the government that expressions of anti-Indonesian sentiment were likely to hinder rather than help Corby's case.
(AP Photo/Dita Alangkara)
