Jack Thomas order relaxed

JACK Thomas is no longer subject to a contentious control order after federal police struck a deal ahead of his terror trial.

JACK Thomas is no longer subject to a contentious control order after federal police yesterday struck a deal to relax the strict monitoring regime slapped on the former taxi driver ahead of his terror trial.

Police agreed to abandon legal moves to renew the control order -- the first of its kind under the new terror laws -- just days before the interim order was due to expire.

Mr Thomas's lawyers, declaring their client a pawn in the Howard Government's "political agenda", told the Federal Magistrates Court yesterday the terror suspect never believed he should have been subject to the nation's first control order.

However, Mr Thomas was prepared to offer an undertaking, without admission, that mirrored many of the terms of the control order, until he "clears his name" during a criminal trial in the Victorian Supreme Court.

The undertaking still requires Mr Thomas to report to police three times weekly, as he must do, regardless, under bail conditions imposed by the Victorian Court of Appeal.

He also remains subject to a midnight-to-5am curfew, but is able to be out beyond those hours as long as he gives advance notice to the Australian Federal Police.

Mr Thomas has pledged not to associate with any member of al-Qa'ida or Jemaah Islamiah or any other terrorist group, but the long list of proscribed organisations and people he was expressly forbidden from contacting under the control order -- including Osama bin Laden -- no longer applies.

He has also pledged not to undertake weapons training or manufacture or detonate explosives, and must not access or use telephones or email accounts that the AFP is unaware of.

The terror suspect can revoke the undertakings at any time with 21 days' notice to the Australian Federal Police, which would then have to consider whether to slap another control order on him.

Mr Thomas's barrister, Mark Taft SC, told the court in Melbourne yesterday that the terror suspect condemned terrorism and believed he had given significant assistance to intelligence agencies battling its scourge.

"Mr Thomas has always opposed the making of a control order -- it's not warranted," Mr Taft said.

"Mr Thomas is not a threat to Australia or Australians ... (and) perceives he has been used for political purposes and to promote a political agenda.

"He expresses strong opposition to terrorism and attacks on civilians. He specifically condemns the maiming and killing of civilians in London, New York, Bali and elsewhere."

Alan Howe, for the commonwealth, described Mr Thomas's undertakings as "a very convenient means of preserving the status quo until his criminal trial".

Federal magistrate Maurice Phipps, who heard the matter yesterday, had earlier this week said it was not clear under the 2004 terror laws what should happen to Mr Thomas's interim control order when it expired at midnight on Sunday.

There could be an argument that the interim control order could continue to exist beyond its expiry date, Mr Phipps said.

But the more likely scenario was that federal police would have had to apply for another interim control order next week, had they wanted to continue to monitor Mr Thomas.

In accepting the undertakings, the commonwealth has avoided a court hearing that would put to the test its justification for putting the control order on Mr Thomas, who is facing a retrial on terror charges after his conviction was quashed by the Victorian Court of Appeal last year.

Mr Thomas has pleaded not guilty to charges of providing resources to a terrorist organisation and falsifying a passport. His Supreme Court retrial will begin in February next year.