Malcolm Turnbull: ‘Our way of life is under attack’
ON the anniversary of the September 11 terrorist attacks on the US, Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull compared them to the Minto atrocity, saying Islamic extremism sought to destroy our way of life.
NSW
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ON the anniversary of the September 11 terrorist attacks on the US, Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull yesterday compared them to the Minto atrocity, saying Islamic extremism sought to destroy our way of life.
Mr Turnbull (below) also called on the public to be the eyes and ears of the security agencies to help stem the rise of more lone wolf terrorist attacks on Australian soil.
Responding to the Islamic State-inspired stabbing attack in Sydney, the Prime Minister urged the community to report suspicious behaviour to the national hotline.
“Intelligence is absolutely critical … if you see or become aware of something suspicious or unusual or if you know someone or believe somebody could pose a threat to the community, then please call the national security hotline,” he said.
This week the government will introduce legislation to extend control orders for suspected terrorists by cutting the age from 16 to 14 in a reflection of the increasingly young age of offenders. It will also introduce post-sentence detention orders designed to allow authorities to keep convicted terrorists behind bars after their sentences had expired if they are still deemed a threat.
Likening the Minto attack to 9/11, Mr Turnbull said: “On one level they seem very different, 15 years apart (and) very different events. But connecting them both is a violent Islamist ideology which perverts the religion of Islam and seeks to destroy and threaten our way of life.”
Mr Turnbull, due to visit the 9/11 memorial in New York next week with his wife Lucy, paid tribute to the heroes of both attacks and warned the key terror threat was now from “lone actors”.
“Following the Nice attack, I asked the co-ordinator of counter-terrorism to study that attack, the nature of it, the lone actor nature of it and the way a large vehicle was used ... so we can learn from it.”
NSW Premier Mike Baird described the Minto attack as the “challenge that is being faced by countries around the world”.
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