Melbourne terror: Ashton’s terror appeal to mental heath profession

Mental health experts must consider the community if they know their patients are intent on acts of violence.

Victoria Police Chief Commissioner Graham Ashton. Picture: Stuart McEvoy

Victoria Police Chief Commissioner Graham Ashton says the Melbourne CDB stabbing and car-bomb incident was a clear act of terrorism, and mental health experts must consider the community good if they know their patients are intent on acts of violence.

Mr Ashton told The Australian yesterday that Hassan Khalif Shire Ali’s crime spree last Friday was “certainly a terrorism act” and there was no evidence so far to suggest he was a mental health patient.

But the police chief said mental health issues were common among criminals and it was not unknown for the condition to ­affect terrorists.

He said mental health practit­ion­ers, while being required to respec­t patient confidentiality, also had a responsibility to help thwart major incidents.

“We benefit (from) any inform­ation about risk that deals with risk in the terrorism context,” he said. “But you know, a lot of the people we deal with day in, day out across Victoria, offenders that we arrest — many of them, a large percentage of them — have a mental health history.”

Mr Ashton said that if mental health workers were made aware of the potential for major incid­ents, there was a public interest in ensuring people were protected.

“Certainly in relation to terrorism, if there’s any information that connects mental health and terroris­m, well, it’s obviously inform­ation we are interested in,” he said.

The family of Shire Ali, 30, claims he suffered from serious mental health issues, suggesting this was the catalyst for the Bourke Street attack, in which one person was stabbed to death and two ­others were injured.

This claim, while not ruled out as a factor, has sparked intense ­debate as the federal and state Coalit­ions seek to position the Victori­an opposition ahead of the November 24 state election.

Mr Ashton said he believed the political classes had been measured at the weekend, with wide support for the way Victoria Police had handled Shire Ali when he set his ute on fire, tried to blow up gas bottles and stabbed three men, killing cafe owner Sisto Malaspina.

He said it was important for police to retain strong relationships with groups such as the broad Islamic community, which was often the place where radical­is­ation first became known.

“We’ve just got to make sure that we have strong relationships with the communities,” Mr ­Ashton told The Australian.

“Accordingly, if these relationships are strong, the more likely (it is) that if people do have concerns they will give us a call.”

The Australian National Imams Council was strident in its criticism of Shire Ali’s attack last Friday, declaring that Australians should unite and counter all forms of extremism and violence.

“The Australian Muslim community, its imams and leaders, have always been at the forefront of countering violent extremism in all its forms,” it said in a statement.

Mr Ashton said the peak body of imams in Victoria was on board with the issues around terrorism, adding: “They are well aware of the risks there.”

He said many steps were being taken to ensure Melbourne’s CBD was fortified, with early discussions about potentially blocking off Bourke Street Mall with ­bollards that could be raised and lowered for trams.

The Chief Commissioner said that these ­discussions were only in their early phase.