‘Shocking failure’: Tony Abbott slams Anthony Albanese over Sydney terror plot
The former Prime Minister has slammed Anthony Albanese after he was “left out of the loop” about an alleged anti-Semitic terror plot.
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Former Prime Minister Tony Abbott has slammed Anthony Albanese over a “shocking failure of leadership” after the Prime Minister was kept in the dark over an alleged anti-Semitic terror plot in Sydney.
It reportedly took nine days for Mr Albanese to be informed about the discovery of a caravan filled with powerful explosives and the addresses of Jewish sites, which authorities said could have led to a “potential mass casualty event” in northwestern Sydney.
NSW Police were alerted to the chilling find by a local Dural resident on January 19. The state’s Premier Chris Minns was briefed on the matter on January 20, before the Australian Federal Police joined the investigation the following day.
Blasting the delay in communication, Mr Abbot told The Daily Telegraph: “It’s hard to credit that NSW police would uncover enough explosives to kill hundreds of people in a caravan belonging to anti-Semitic activists with indications that it was intended to kill Jews and that no one would bother to tell the PM.”
“Either the authorities aren’t taking public safety seriously or they know the PM doesn’t take it sufficiently seriously so decided that he should be left out of the loop,” he continued.
“Either way it’s a shocking failure of leadership extending right to the top.”
The Prime Minister was reportedly not informed about the discovery until after it was reported by The Daily Telegraph on Wednesday.
The Attorney-General and national security committee were also all “out of the loop”.
The week before on January 21, Mr Albanese and Mr Minns attended a joint press conference and a national cabinet meeting over a Maroubra child care firebombed with graffiti in a suspected anti-Semitic attack.
Deputy Liberal leader Sussan Ley told Sunrise Mr Albanese increasingly appeared “out of his depth” and called on the Prime Minister to reveal when he was informed of the plot.
“We want the Prime Minister to succeed on this, we really do. We have to succeed as a nation in bringing people together,’’ Ms Ley said on Friday.
“But look, I’m really worried that Anthony Albanese is out of his depth of national security and antisemitism and it appears he’s out of the loop too.
“He needs to answer questions about when he knew about this terrorist caravan. It was discovered before the firebombing of a childcare centre in Sydney when he and the Premier stood up at that childcare centre, surely the Prime Minister of this country should have known about a terrorist caravan and associated threats.”
The Prime Minister has refused to reveal when he was briefed on the discovery of the van.
“I don’t go into operational details. The important things here are two things,” he told ABC Radio on Thursday.
“One is that the priority must be keeping Australians safe. And in this case, this incident has been discovered, people have been held to account about ongoing investigations. And that’s the second thing that needs to happen, is that the job of politicians is to support our security agencies.”
‘Right decision’
Meanwhile, Mr Minns has defended the call to keep the discovery of the caravan a secret from the public, labelling it the “right decision”.
“If the police believe that covert means are the best way of locking up people who are responsible for these actions, that’s what needs to happen,” he told reporters on Thursday morning.
“I back the police in relation to this. The right decision was made, notwithstanding the fact we want to get as much information into the public domain as we can as early as we can.”
The caravan was found to contain Powergel explosives believed to have been stolen from a mine site and strong enough to create a 40-metre blast wave.
A note containing the words “f*** the Jews” and addresses of Jewish people and a synagogue were also discovered.
Sky News Australia host Sharri Markson on Thursday revealed on her show The Great Synagogue and the Sydney Jewish Museum in Darlinghurst were the intended targets of the suspected terror plot.
Police search for masterminds behind plot
Police are now reportedly looking for the “masterminds” behind the alleged terror plot after making a number of arrests “on the periphery” of the investigation.
Police said the owner of the caravan is in custody on “unrelated matters”.
Couple Tammie Farrugia and Scott Marshall have also been arrested on the “periphery” of the investigation, according to The Daily Telegraph.
Ms Farrugia, who has been charged over an unrelated alleged anti-Semitic attack at Woollahra in December, and Mr Marshall, who has been charged with unrelated weapons and drug offences were reportedly named on an AFP search warrant during raids at a property in Dural last week.
A third person, Simon Lance Nichols, was also named on the search warrant, The Daily Telegraph reports.
Police are believed to be looking into whether Ms Farrugia and Mr Marshall have links to white supremacist groups or bikie gangs, according to the publication.
“One thing everyone is in agreement with is the two people charged would not have the money or the organisational skills on their own to acquire explosives, and pay cash for a caravan,” an unnamed source told the publication.
“We believe those two people may have ties to these groups, which does not mean they are involved, but it has to be explored.”
Ms Farrugia and Mr Marshall have not been charged in relation to the caravan plot and there is no suggestion of any wrongdoing.
Originally published as ‘Shocking failure’: Tony Abbott slams Anthony Albanese over Sydney terror plot
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