Jaden Duong told cops he disliked the Australian Christian Lobby

POLICE assured us the explosion at the Australian Christian Lobby was not politically motivated, but court documents now suggest it was. There are questions to be answered.

Jaden Duong told police he disliked the Australian Christian Lobby for their stance on marriage equality after driving his burning van into their headquarters. (Pic: Kym Smith)

THE ACT Police have questions to answer over their handling of the Australian Christian Lobby bombing.

Some of those answers have to wait until after the trial of gay activist Jaden Duong, who hired a Toyota HiAce one-tonne van from Canberra airport, went to two Coles Express stores and bought four 8.5kg LPG bottles which he placed in the rear of the van.

He drove the van to the doorstep of the ACL headquarters in Canberra and, at about 9.30pm on December 21, detonated it in a blast that blew out windows, gutted the ground floor and caused $100,000 damage.

Duong, 36, who was injured in the explosion, appeared in ACT Magistrates Court on Wednesday on charges of arson and property damage. He pleaded not guilty on the grounds of mental impairment; his lawyers said they don’t dispute the police version of events.

In documents tendered to the court, police state they asked Duong why he chose that location, and he replied “Because I dislike the Australian Christian Lobby”, over its “position on sexuality” and because “religions are failed”.

Jaden Duong leaves ACT Magistrates Court. (Pic: Ray Strange)

In the months before the attack, Duong ran internet searches on “countries with same sex marriage”, “Israel gay marriage”, “same sex marriage Germany”, “China lgbt”, “Australian Christian Lobby”, “how to make ammonium nitrate”, “pressure-cooker bomb”, “C4”, “how to buy a gun in Australia”, and “how much gas leak to cause explosion”.

Four weeks before the attack, Duong searched “Australian Christian Lobby” and accessed the ACL home page, according to the court documents.

Despite extensive damage to the building, police initially described the incident as a “car fire”.

The next day, ACT Deputy Chief Police Commander Mark Walters said: “As a result of our conversations with this man, we’ve been able to establish that his actions were not politically, religiously or ideologically motivated.”

At the time, ACL boss Lyle Shelton questioned police assurances that the attack coincidentally affected the ACL, which had been on heightened alert due to unrelated threats.

The Australian Christian Lobby’s Lyle Shelton inspects the damage after the explosion. (Pic: Kym Smith)

A media statement released this week by ACT Policing only “heightened” his concerns.

In the statement, ACT police defend their claim that the attack was not, “politically, religiously or ideologically motivated”, saying it was made “to provide reassurance to the ACT community” and was “based on information known by police at the time …

“ACT Policing believed mental illness played a considerable factor here and Mr Duong’s primary motivation was suicide. This is still ACT Policing’s position.”

The release also states: “It is important for police to advise the public when an investigation into a terrorism incident has commenced. It is just as important to advise the community where an incident is not believed to be terrorism related.”

Shelton on Friday expressed concerns about police handling of the case: “I believe I should have been notified of the circumstances of the explosion at the time,” he said.

“Yesterday’s statement from ACT Policing and [AFP Commissioner Andrew] Colvin’s testimony at Senate Estimates do not sit well with the statement by police on 22 December that the incident was not ‘ideologically, politically or religiously motivated’.”

Colvin testified to Senate Estimates in February, using the exact phrase ACT police had used two months earlier.

Based on the court documents, it seems as if Colvin should be asking some questions too.