“Today’s terrorism requires little more than a camera phone, a knife and a victim,” Tony Abbott said in his address to media today, beginning his speech on the imminent and high-priority danger of terrorism in Australia. Citing the threat of a “death cult” in Iraq and Syria, the heightened number of high-priority cases needing attention from ASIO and announcing that immigration laws will be tightened in regards to visas and dual citizenship for Australians who fight in anti-Australia conflicts overseas, Abbott’s address has come off the release of the first review into the Martin Place siege yesterday.
Mr Abbott stated that the legal system “failed” in regards to the Lindt Cafe gunman Man Haron Monis, who made up to 18 National Security Hotline calls in the days before the siege, but were not considered high-priority cases.
“There was bail where there should have been gaol,” Abbott said, in reference to the bail granted to Monis following a series of sexual abuse offenses. Tony Abbott also cited that the “threshold for action” in the case of Man Monis was set too high, with the only beneficiary of the “benefit of the doubt” attitude applied being Monis himself. Claiming that a vast majority of Australian foreign fighters were on welfare payments before traveling overseas, Tony Abbott also made reference to Monis’ own welfare payments. Over the weekend, the Herald Sun were a li’l less subtle about it:
“The signs are ominous,” Tony Abbott warned today, claiming that ASIO is currently investigating and monitoring 400 high-priority terrorist cases, a number that has doubled in the last year.
Most significantly, Tony Abbott has announced the new measures that have already or will be put in place to fight terrorism in Australia. Those being:
– Seven new financial analysts to track the money trail of terrorist organisations have been hired
– A “violent jihadist network” has been mapped by ASIO
– A “foreign fighters” crime force has been put in place
– A national counter-terrorism coordinator will be appointed
– Action will be taken against “hate preachers” by challenging terrorist propaganda released online
– Extra security measures at international airports in Australia have been put into place
– The citizenship act will be amended to allow the government to revoke Australian citizenship of “foreign fighters” who hold dual citizenship
“People are anxious about security threats in Australia,” Tony Abbott said, “People think we are being taken for mugs.”
Tony Abbott took no questions after his speech. You can read it in full over here.
Lead image by Cole Bennets via Getty.
