South Australian Government reveals plans to update laws to crack down on terrorism
ADELAIDE’S most terror-prone sites will be identified in a bid to thwart potential attacks — as the state government announces laws to keep people with links to terrorism behind bars.
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ADELAIDE’S most terror-prone sites will be identified by the council in a bid to thwart potential attacks.
Victoria Square, Kintore Ave (ANZAC Walk), Fringe event spaces and the roads around Adelaide Oval following events were named as areas of particular concern for “low-tech attacks” by Councillor Alex Antic, who made the proposal on Tuesday night.
“As regrettable as it is, the recent terrorist attacks in Nice, Berlin and London show that western cities now need to be prepared for low tech, mass gathering attacks from extremists using vehicles as weapons,’’ Cr Antic said.
“Sadly, the age of innocence for western cities is over and Adelaide is no exception.”
Cr Antic moved that council work with state and federal governments to develop and implement strategies to identity and address those spaces and events seen as being most at risk.
Preventative measures could include bollards like those installed at Rundle Mall, concrete planter boxes or judiciously planted mature trees.
“Adelaide has numerous public spaces which are extremely vulnerable and this is of particular concern during events such as the Fringe which sees large groups of people gathering in open flat spaces.”
It comes as laws the State Government announced it would strengthened laws in South Australia to restrict bail and parole to keep people with links to terrorism behind bars.
Premier Jay Weatherill has announced the State Government will draft tougher legislation following recent global and Australian terror attacks and present it to state Parliament “as soon as possible”.
It follows a meeting of state leaders and the Prime Minister on Friday, where bail and parole laws were discussed.
Changes will be proposed to the state Bail Act to create an automatic denial of police bail and a presumption against court-ordered bail for any person with links to terrorism.
There would also be a presumption against parole for any convicted offender who had demonstrated support for, or had links to, terrorist activity.
“What we’re trying to do here is change the law so that we keep behind bars people who present a risk to our society,” Mr Weatherill said.
“It is not just people charged with terrorism offences who present a risk.
“It is also people that are charged with other crimes (which) bring them to the attention of our authorities. If we have cogent evidence of terrorism links then these people should be denied bail. They should be denied parole.”
Mr Weatherill did not define the threshold for having “links” to terrorism but said authorities would take advice from the Australian Federal Police, ASIO and other security agencies.
This would not necessarily need to be as concrete as a terrorism-related charge, he said.
Mr Weatherill said the new legislation would consider the rights of the charged person but “there should be a bias for no (parole or bail) unless someone can demonstrate they’re not a risk to the community”.
“There is a balance to be struck. If somebody can demonstrate that the material that’s held in relation to terrorist links is wrong or is so trivial that it shouldn’t otherwise affect their right to bail or parole ... those are matters that should be taken into account,” he said.
He would not say how the proposed laws might apply to specific cases, such as the 22-year-old Somali-born South Australian woman arrested last month.
She is charged with knowingly and intentionally being a member of Islamic State, but denies the charge.
“Sadly we’ve seen people involved in the criminal justice system interstate who have undoubted terrorist links, who’ve been committing crimes,” he said.
Mr Weatherill said there was a “relatively lower” risk of a terror attack in South Australian than interstate, but argued that “we cannot be complacent”.
Mr Weatherill said he was “not aware of any” legitimate terror threats in SA which had been thwarted before they could be carried out.
He said laws promised in New South Wales which would grant police new ‘shoot-to-kill’ powers against terrorists had not been raised or requested at the national leaders’ meeting last week, and were not part of South Australia’s response.
Opposition Deputy Leader Vickie Chapman said the Liberals would support the legislation in state Parliament and urged the Government to put it to a vote as soon as possible.
“I don’t think there will be any question from our point of view. We’re here to support legislation wherever it is necessary to support South Australians,” Ms Chapman said.
“Everyone everywhere in Australia needs to be vigilant. We’re at a high level of (terror) risk in this country.”
Ms Chapman said she had no concerns about the proposed changes impinging on civil liberties.
She added that changes to bail laws were discussed and agreed upon by leaders around the nation two years ago and it was positive to “finally” see action.
SA MPs return to Parliament next week.
Also on Tuesday, Muslim Adelaideans took to Rundle Mall in the CBD to speak out against terrorist attacks and encourage more awareness of their faith.
Ahmadiyya Muslim Association Adelaide spokesman Waleed Shah stood in the mall and took questions from passers by.
“There’s be a recent cry from the public for Muslim leaders to speak up and show the Australian community that they’re against what is happening around the world,” Mr Shah, 25, said.
“We’re just trying to raise awareness. I’m just hoping that people will appreciate what we’re doing.
“We want people to know that we’re a very transparent community, there’s nothing to hide.
“It’s the Muslim community’s responsibility to make people feel safe.
Mr Shah said he would support legal changes “to protect the people of Australia” if they were introduced by a democratically elected government.