Trusting government spooks with ever more power over Australians instead of targeting Islam with the full force of existing laws is self-defeating. Al Bozo & Burka Tony have already derailed the Royal Commission looking into the Bondi Massacre by excluding Islam from their findings, which is a disgrace.
The Albanese government has been accused of a “complete mismanagement” of the ISIS brides cohort after the nation’s top spy addressed the ongoing terror threat against Australia.
The Coalition has claimed there is “little prospect” of a reduction in Australia’s terror threat from “probable” to “possible”, with the party accusing the Albanese government of a “complete mismanagement” of the ISIS brides cohort.
On Wednesday, Australian Security Intelligence Organisation Director-General Mike Burgess warned the nation faced a more volatile security environment marked by rising social tensions, espionage and politically motivated violence.
The nation’s terror threat remains at “probable”, with knowledge of a specific planned attack needed to escalate it further to “expected”.
In his address, Mr Burgess stressed: “I do not believe the system was designed for a situation like the one we now face”.
“It is fair to say that Australia is facing a complex mix of threats – including from foreign interference, espionage, online radicalisation, and antisemitic violence,” he told SkyNews.com.au.
“Religiously motivated violent extremism, including Islamist extremism, clearly remains one of the most serious and most enduring of these threats.
“The Albanese government’s complete mismanagement of the ISIS Brides’ returns to Australia has trained a very clear spotlight on the need for far better prioritisation of community safety.
“A comprehensive explanation of what safeguards, monitoring and legal controls are in place for these individuals is also required.”
Mr Burgess also used the speech to divulge fresh details about the foreign actors believed to have orchestrated Iranian-backed antisemitic attacks in Sydney and Melbourne.
An attack on the Lewis Continental Kitchen was coordinated by a citizen of Australia living in Iran, embedded in Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, he said.
Opposition Leader Angus Taylor argued Mr Burgess’ comments proved Iran still posed a serious threat to Australians.
“Iran’s been a state sponsor of terror globally for over four decades. If anything, the degradation of their more conventional capabilities at the hands of the Americans and Israelis makes resort to unconventional capabilities like terrorism more attractive,” he said.
Echoing the claim, Senator Duniam said the Albanese government must treat Iran as an “ongoing national security concern”.
“If ASIO has concluded that Iran cannot be dismissed as a serious threat and that Iran continues to view Australia as a legitimate target for covert activity, then that position must be respected – and the Albanese government must treat that as a very real, ongoing national security concern,” he said.
Commenting more broadly on whether there was anything the government could do to lower the “probable” threat level, Mr Taylor said Mr Burgess had called for reforms to the terror threat level system as the threat environment was “simply too complex”.
“Unfortunately, Mr Burgess’ comments last night underscore that there’s little prospect anytime soon of even reducing the terror threat level to ‘possible’ (as occurred in 2022),” he said.
“The threat environment is simply too complex -hence Burgess’ sounding out of reforms to that terror threat level system itself.
“What can be done is to work against the factors driving radicalisation and the increasing normalisation of politically motivated violence in our society and that’s a challenge requiring a whole of community response, not just one from ASIO.”
Senator Duniam, meanwhile, argued one way to reduce the threat level was to increase the powers of those whose job it is to combat such threats.
“The government must ensure our intelligence, law enforcement and border management agencies have the powers, resources and laws they need to keep Australians safe,” he said.
The 19-strong group of ISIS brides and their children returning tonight and why one was stopped
How can you exclude Islam from the inquirty? It is the problem! Who is worse? Starmer or Al Bozo?