Caravan packed with explosives set for Sydney synagogue risked ‘mass casualty event’
The chance discovery of a caravan laden with enough explosives to level a 40m blast zone and apparently intended to target Jewish Australians has confirmed fears of a major escalation in anti-Semitic violence.
The chance discovery of a caravan laden with enough explosives to level a 40m blast zone and apparently intended to target Jewish Australians in a “mass casualty event” has confirmed fears of a major escalation in anti-Semitic violence, with Anthony Albanese vowing the full might of Australia’s counter-terrorism forces will be deployed to meet the threat.
More than 100 police have been thrown into the investigation after the caravan was found on the outskirts of Sydney packed with Powergel explosives suspected to have been stolen from a mine site and containing a note with the addresses of Jewish targets. On Wednesday evening, NSW Police scrambled to defend staying silent on the “very serious threat” for more than a week before it leaked to Sydney’s media, saying investigations required “anonymity”, while NSW Premier Chris Minns labelled the incident as “terrorism”.
Police confirmed they had found and taken into custody on January 19 a caravan dumped on the side of a road in Dural, a semi-rural suburb about 40km northwest of Sydney.
The explosives found in the caravan had enough force to create a blast zone with a 40m diameter, NSW Police Deputy Commissioner Dave Hudson said on Wednesday.
Deputy Commissioner Hudson said arrests had been made “on the periphery” of the case but that police were still looking for help from the public in their investigation, particularly from anyone who saw the caravan parked “in a hazardous position” by the side of Derriwong Road, Dural, between December 7 and January 19.
The Daily Telegraph reported that among the arrests “on the periphery” was that of Tammie Farrugia, who was last week charged over an alleged anti-Semitic attack at Woollahra in December.
Farrugia’s boyfriend Scott Marshall, who was charged late last year with weapons and drug offences to which he has pleaded not guilty, was another of the “periphery” arrests, The Daily Telegraph said. The newspaper is also reporting that the couple had posted on Facebook just last month asking to buy a caravan. Ms Farrugia tagged her Mr Marshall in a post on December 6 that read: “Looking for a caravan for sale hit me up if U have one cheers”.
Neither Farrugia or Marshall have been charged in relation to the Dural incident and there is no suggestion of any wrongdoing. So far, 10 people have been charged under that taskforce, mainly related to anti-Semitic vandalism attacks at synagogues or prominent Jewish suburbs.
Deputy Commissioner Hudson would not reveal details of the intended targets but said the Jewish community had been kept informed of developments.
Mr Minns pledged a “massive” response, with the Joint Counter Terrorism Team mobilised, comprising officers from the AFP, NSW Police Force, Australian Security Intelligence Organisation and NSW Crime Commission. “I want to make it clear that anyone attempting terrorism, violence, hatred in our community will be met with the full force of the law,” Mr Minns said.
“There will be no tolerance under any circumstances for these acts of criminal violence in our community and anyone attempting this level of violence in NSW will be met by every resource we have to throw at it.”
The Prime Minister condemned the act “unequivocally”, pledging that “the full might of the AFP, ASIO and NSW Police are being utilised in this major investigation by the Joint Counter Terrorism Team”.
Deputy Commissioner Hudson reiterated that there was “no ongoing threat” and that police had no information that there were other explosives unaccounted for. “We are working with the AFP, NSW Crime Commission and ASIO, and it’s an ongoing investigation,” he said. “We’re taking this seriously and all lines of inquiry are being pursued, but I want to stress we do not believe there is an ongoing threat from this discovery.”
Investigations would be conducted into any potential crossovers with Strike Force Pearl, which has been conducting investigations into other anti-Semitic attacks in NSW.
The discovery came two days after the former home of Jewish leader Alex Ryvchin was vandalised in Dover Heights and a day before a Maroubra childcare centre was firebombed and tagged with anti-Semitic graffiti.
Defending the failure to announce the investigation earlier – the Premier was briefed a day after the discovery – and its eventual release via a leak to the media late on Wednesday, Deputy Commissioner Hudson conceded that it had “compromised” inquiries.
“There are ongoing investigations, ideally those should be conducted with a form of anonymity … We are still after offenders that we believe may be involved,” he said. “We believe there is some connection between some of the targets charged under Strike Force Pearl … We believe arrests have been made in the periphery of this job, under (that taskforce).”
Deputy Commissioner Hudson said investigators were pursuing whether it was intended that the caravan be used in an attack or whether it was abandoned. “This is certainly an escalation of (recent attacks) and (had) the potential to cause a great deal of damage,” he said.
“The amount of explosives was not used in the normal anti-Semitic attacks that we have seen occur in Sydney,” the deputy commissioner said, confirming no other similar incidents were being investigated currently by police.
Mr Minns said that while it would be on the call of police, he said there was only “one way” of describing the incident: “terrorism”. “That’s what we’re very worried about … It would strike terror in the community, particularly the Jewish, and it must be met with the full force of the police and government,” he said.
The Premier defended the decision not to reveal the caravan’s discovery last week, saying it was with “great regret” that he couldn’t reassure the Jewish community an attack wouldn’t be fatal. “There are bad actors in our community: bad motivations, ideologies, morals, ethics – bad people,” he said. “They’re intent on doing damage to others purely on the basis of religion. It’s hateful and we need to stamp it out.”
Mr Minns promised a “massive” police response, noting how Strike Force Pearl had already doubled in operational size and would enlarge further. “To the Jewish community – the vast majority of people in NSW find this behaviour abhorrent, appalling, and against the values we share, and we will defeat them,” he said.
Zionist Federation of Australia chief executive officer Alon Cassuto said the discovery constituted the “most severe threat” to the Jewish community in “living memory”. “The plot, if executed, could have resulted in one of the worst terrorist attacks in Australia’s history,” he said. “(We have) been warning for 16 months that unchecked incitement, violent rhetoric, and weak leadership has created the perfect environment for extremism and terrorism to flourish.”
Executive Council of Australian Jewry co-chief executive Peter Wertheim., said the community was concerned but had been contact with the AFP on Wednesday “and we have been assured there is no ongoing threat to the Jewish or wider community”.
President of the NSW Jewish Board of Deputies David Ossip said the incident was “a matter of the gravest possible consequence”. “We have been saying for weeks now that the Jewish community is the target of an ongoing campaign of domestic terrorism. This is now beyond dispute,” Mr Ossip said. “We are engaging closely with law enforcement and the Government in relation to this matter and the ongoing security of the Jewish community.”
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