Posted on 12/23/2016 1:12:48 AM PST by naturalman1975
Statement by The Honourable Malcolm Turnbull MP, Prime Minister of the Commonwealth of Australia.
I am here with the Minister for Justice, the minister assisting me on counter-terrorism, Michael Keenan, and the Commissioner of the Australian Federal Police, Andrew Colvin, and the Coordinator for Counter-terrorism, Tony Sheehan.
As you know, overnight our police and security agencies have disrupted a very substantial terrorist plot. Overnight the Victorian Police working with the Australian Federal Police and ASIO have arrested seven persons, five of whom are still in custody, searched five premises and are continuing to search them. What they have uncovered is a plot to explode improvised explosive devices in central Melbourne in the area of Federation Square, on or about Christmas Day.
This is one of the most substantial terrorist plots that has been disrupted over the last several years. I want to thank the men and women of the police in Victoria, the Australian Federal Police and ASIO and other agencies, for their work in thwarting this terrorist activity which was an Islamist terrorist plot inspired, as the Victorian Police Commissioner just observed a moment ago, by Daesh or ISIL. It has been a very complex investigation and it speaks volumes for the competence and professionalism of our police and security agencies which are the best in the world.
As you know, the terrorism threat level has been elevated to probable since September 2014. Since that time we've seen four terrorist attacks in Australia and now 12 successful major disruption operations. Fifty seven people have been charged as a result of 25 counterterrorism operations around Australia.
Now this news will be of great concern to all Australians. We are approaching the Christmas season - a time when we come together in peace and love with our families. We congregate in public places for Christmas, for New Year's Eve. It is a time of happiness and joy. These terrorists sought to disrupt it. They have been thwarted. They are in custody. They are no longer a threat to Australia's security.
We see around the world the global threat of terrorism; the truck attack in Berlin earlier this week, and similar attacks, terrorist attacks, in so many other places just in the last few weeks, including Nigeria, Yemen, Turkey, Somalia, Egypt and Jordan. Islamist terrorism is a global challenge that affects us all. But we must not be cowed by the terrorists. We will continue to go about our lives as we always have. What these criminals seek to do is to kill. But they also seek to frighten us, to cower us into abandoning our Australian way of life. They want to frighten Australians. They want to divide Australians. They want us to turn on each other. We will not let them succeed.
Today and overnight our security and police agencies have yet again done their job, their great work of investigation, apprehension. And they will take these criminals to the courts where they will be dealt with and where the considerably strengthened counter-terrorism laws that the Minister for Justice will speak about in a moment, will ensure that they receive the full judgement of the law, in accordance with the law.
While we have the finest police and security agencies in the world, and while we are able to continue to disrupt terrorist activities, the threat level is probable. So we cannot mitigate all risk. But I can assure all Australians that our police services right across the country - our intelligence agencies right across the country, and around the world - are at the highest state of alert, learning from every incident, whether it occurs here or abroad, putting in place the measures to keep Australians safe. That's what we will always do.
But equally all of us, just as we should defy the terrorists by going about our lives in the normal way, we should also be alert ourselves. And if we see something that is of concern or hear something that is of concern, that could be relevant to national security, to counter-terrorism, we should call the national security hotline - 1800 123 400. Speak up; don't ever be afraid of making a call and letting the police know. Our police and intelligence services keep us safe because citizens keep them informed. It is up to all of us to keep our eyes open.
I want to thank again, the men and women of the AFP, the Victoria Police, and ASIO. I want to thank all the men and women who serve in the Australian Defence Force and in our police and security agencies, our emergency services, keeping us safe every day and every night of the year, but especially at this time of year.
I will now ask the Minister to speak about the way in which the Turnbull Government has changed the law, improved the laws, strengthened the laws to give us and give our agencies a greater capacity to disrupt and deal with the threats to our security.
Well thank you, Prime Minister. Australia is currently living through the most difficult security environment in our history. Since the middle of 2014, we've had four terror attacks on our soil and the events in Melbourne overnight is the 12th disruption that our agencies have had in the past two and a half years. But this disruption is amongst the most serious in terms of its intent, and in terms of the capability of the people who have been disrupted.
The Government has been very clear-sighted about what is required to keep Australia safe in the face of this terror threat. We have significantly changed the operating environment for our police agencies and our intelligence community to give them extra powers and extra resources that they need to do this job. The sorts of changes we have made about lowering the arrest threshold, for example, the changes we've made to control orders have been absolutely instrumental in allowing police to disrupt the sorts of activities that we saw in Melbourne and the sorts of activities that we have seen with the other 11 successful disruptions that our police have been able to affect in the past two and a half years.
We've invested $1.5 billion in the ability of our agencies; that's improved their ability to collect intelligence and it's funded our countering violent extremism efforts overall. We understand that when Australians hear reports of what was planned in the Melbourne CBD that they will be nervous and concerned. But they should also be very reassured that once again, our police, our intelligence community, have been able to work together to stop something from occurring, and in this case, something from imminently occurring. They have been supported 110 per cent by their Government in their ability to do this.
There is literally no better country that is better-faced to deal with the global terror threat than Australia. We are the gold standard for what needs to be done to keep our population safe. I want to congratulate the Australian Federal Police, the Victoria Police and ASIO, who formed the Melbourne Joint Counter Terrorism Team. We thank them very much for everything that they do. Whilst we are celebrating for Christmas and New Year, this is the busiest period for our law enforcement community and our emergency services. But this operation, this successful disruption of what would have been a horrendous attack - an attack that may have caused very significant casualties - is an example of the excellence that they provide to us, and they've been supported to do what they need to do by this Government 110 per cent.
I'll hand over to the commissioner to say a few words as well.
Good morning everybody. Thank you, Prime Minister. Thank you, Minister. You've already heard a fair bit of detail from my Victorian counterpart this morning, but let me just reinforce that this is a significant disruption of what we would describe as an imminent terrorist event in Melbourne, Victoria.
Community safety will always be the number one priority for our law enforcement agencies and we've acted as soon as possible with the best evidence and the best material and the best intelligence available to us to make sure that community safety was being protected.
We do believe, as you've heard, that we have removed this threat in its entirety and we don't believe that this group poses any threat to the Victorian community or more broadly, the Australian community. What this reinforces, of course - as the Prime Minister has said, and the Minister and others - is that law enforcement agencies across Australia, working internationally as well but working with our intelligence and security partners, are doing everything that we can to ensure that at this particular time of the year - as with any time of the year - Australians are safe to go about their business, and to go about enjoying the freedoms that we have here in Australia. I think it's very important at this time - as you've heard, as well - we want people to be aware of their surroundings. We want people to understand the environment they are in. But we want them to be assured that their safety is paramount to us, that their safety is our number one concern and that they should be very comfortable getting about and doing what they would normally do at this time of year - as I say, as with any time of the-year. We are working very hard with the community. We are working very hard across this country. I think this is very good evidence of that work that's been done to date.
As you heard earlier this morning, seven people were arrested. We're anticipating that five of those will be charged a little bit later today, where there'll be material put on the public record, and then the court process will take place. There's not a lot that we can say right now for obvious reasons, but certainly happy to take questions.
Make Oz an Islam Free Zone and see if that doesn't improve things greatly.
Hay schmucks, it’s Jihad, not terrorism.
Good news for Australians. Thanks for posting!
Setting off a bomb in a public place is terrorism.
You can call it Jihad as well, certainly - but calling it terrorism isn’t wrong.
I’m just glad that are not denying the links to Islamist groups.
And personally I would rather call these scum terrorists than give them the dignity they would crave as some sort of holy warriors for their religion.
They are criminal scum who want to harm a nation that has given them a home.
They are not criminals, they are religious zealots. Western Civilization hhas orosperedd by taking the Whole and diseting it into logical parts to gain understanding it. Islam = Jihad. Jihad may look like terrorism but is best demarked as separite for accurate attribution and remediation.
They are not criminals, they are religious zealots. Western Civilization has prospered by taking the Whole and disecting it into logical parts to gain understanding of it. Islam = Jihad. Jihad may look like terrorism but is best demarked as seperate for accurate attribution and remediation.
Know what makes me laugh? When the Muslims tell is they are “offended” and “upset” because they feel they are not trusted and looked upon with suspicion.
Truthfully I would stand and cheer if someone had the stones to round up every Muslim in America and ship them all out of our country. Then deeply vet each and every one of them for ANY contacts or association with any suspicious Islamic group at any time in their past. If there is a connection, they will not ever return.
WE don’t want them notr do we need these people.
Isn’t Odunga contemplating taking on a couple thousand Muslim refugees that Australia doesn’t want?
There's no particular reason to believe they are Muslim refugees - they could also be Christian - while Muslims are the largest grouping of refugees into Australia, about 30% are Christian. People seem to be just assuming that the ones under consideration are Muslim - they could be, but to be honest, I suspect that as Australia does want them settled in the US, it's quite likely a lot of them are from the Christian groupings.
What I mean by that is Australia does want the US to accept them, and as the US is more likely to accept Christians as being less potentially dangerous, I can see those presented being from that grouping. Australia’s officially ‘blind to religion’ refugee policy means that it wouldn’t be outlined in those terms publically, hence some of the secrecy behind the deal.
*** There’s no particular reason to believe they are Muslim refugees ***
Except for the news reports out of Australia.. The 870 male only camp in Papua New Guinea, and the other camp 9n Nauru hold mainly Muslims. A list of the countries they hail from are Muslim countries.
WE don’t want them notr do we need these people.
We have imported millions of them based on some idiotic theory of global governance. Or, more likely, on an unspoken theory that they will be, by large majorities, reliable Democrat voters.
It shows the utter irrationality or conversely, treasonous, thinking of our “leaders” that this was done, and done intentionally.
What was the point, if not to divide, weaken, and polarize America?
Our elected officials have invited the savages in to hunt its people, it is time we banish them back to thier sand huts or thier 72 virgins and Mussolini those elected officials in the town square for crimes against the people
It shows the utter irrationality or conversely, treasonous, thinking of our “leaders” that this was done, and done intentionally.
What was the point, if not to divide, weaken, and polarize America?
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None, of course unless you can make a point by being galactically stupid.
I fear some loan wolves will attack Christian churches on Christmas Eve and Christmas Day. I pray for God’s protection.
Maybe lots of people with concealed carry permits would willing to stand guard outside their local places of worship. But don’t be quick on the trigger.
Drop kick these monsters further south...
Thank you for posting the statements and keeping us informed.
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