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Personally I suspect that the issue is just the brief distraction caused by the flash of a temporary alignment with the beam, and that there is no lasting impact from such short term exposure. The latest Brisbane info stated that the laser had "tracked the flight across the city", which I find somewhat hard to believe. Most people have a hard enough time hitting their own television with a remote control that has a 15-30 degree field, not to mention hitting an aircraft with a laser that has a 1.4 miliradian beam divergence. For perspective, at 30Km distance, this example laser would have a spot size roughly the same size as the aircraft. At 10Km, the spot size would only be 14 metres. That requires incredible aiming skill by the user, even if the beam is visible.
The whole problem is self generated, since the people doing it are only doing it because they have heard it is dangerous. Train pilots to handle distractions, tell the media to stop hyping this non-news story, and the problem will go away. We've had laser pointers for what, 15 years? It hasn't been an issue until now.
I'm more worried about lightning hitting my plane, runway debris, and bird strikes, thanks.
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