New laws to keep terrorists behind bars
A wave of dangerous, convicted terrorists due to be released from Australian jails in the next 18 months, could be kept in jail indefinitely in a bid to close a loophole that saw the man responsible for the 2017 Brighton siege freed.
Law & Order
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Criminals with links to terror could be jailed indefinitely under a tough new crackdown.
Laws will be introduced in federal parliament today to close a loophole that prevents terrorists and their supporters caged for non-terror offences remaining locked up under continuing detention orders.
It is a response to the 2017 Brighton siege, which saw two people killed and two police officers shot.
The terrorist, Yacqub Khayre, was able to launch his deadly rampage months after being released on parole over a string of violent offences.
Despite being involved in the Holsworthy Barracks plot, authorities were unable to keep him in prison because he had been acquitted of terror offences.
Attorney-General Christian Porter said Khayre and others like him would have stayed in jail under the new laws. “Prison is where those individuals belong, and this Bill will ensure that is where they stay,” Mr Porter said.
The Morrison Government wants to pass the new laws as soon as possible, with 11 individuals convicted of terrorism offences due for release over the next 18 months.
It is understood these include Australia’s worst convicted terrorist, Abdul Nacer Benbrika, and “tinnie terror” plot participant Murat Kaya.
A violent offender from Melbourne with terror connections is also believed to be in the sights of the crackdown.
The law allows anyone who has been linked to or supported terrorism to be held as long as they are deemed to be a threat.
Currently, only individuals whose terror convictions outlast their other convictions — such as murder — can be kept in prison under a continuing detention order (CDO).
It would close a loophole which has allowed terrorists out on parole when their criminal convictions carried a longer sentence than their terror offence.
The proposed changes come in the wake of the Brighton terror attack, when 29-year-old Khayre murdered a receptionist and held a prostitute hostage at an apartment building in 2017.
He died in a shootout with police, with Islamic State claiming him as one of its “soldiers”.
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Somali-born Khayre was on parole at the time and had a violent history of criminal offences and links with terrorism.
He acquitted by a jury over a plot to attack the Holsworthy Army barracks in Sydney in 2009.
Mr Porter said the new laws would ensure public safety was at the forefront of judges’ minds during bail and parole applications.
“The community was rightly outraged by Yacqub Khayre’s case. I believe the changes we are introducing strike the right balance between protecting individual rights … and protecting the community,” Mr Porter said, adding it was “vital” Labor supported the Bill.