PM confirms Australia bomb link, slams Labor over security laws

PM confirms ISIS support for Sri Lankan bombings, attacking Labor for not helping pass jihadi law.

Scott Morrison greets veterans after the Anzac Day march in Townsville yesterday. Picture: AAP.

Prime Minister Scott Morrison has accused Labor of having to be “dragged’’ into bipartisanship on national security laws as he confirmed Australia believed the Sri Lanka terrorists had links to Islamic State.

Mr Morrison said he believes a Sri Lankan “locally based Islamic terrorist organisation” linked to the Islamic State group is responsible for the terror attacks on churches and hotels last Sunday.

“I can also confirm that there were links between this group and support being provided

including the targets of these attacks by the Daesh network,” he said in Townsville this morning.

Mr Morrison added that the Easter Sunday attack which killed 253 people shows the “new front” of the battle against terrorism is the threat of returned foreign fighters.

“(The) broader Daesh network … can provide support, money, instruction and target identification,” he said.

Mr Morrison used the announcement to attack Labor for not helping to pass new exclusion laws to monitor the return of foreign fighters to Australia.

“We have been endeavouring to bring in temporary exclusion orders which would effectively put any person, Australian citizen, that maybe seeking to return to Australia on an effective parole-type arrangement which would mean that we could keep them under close monitoring, reporting and surveillance.

“It was our hope to pass that legislation and I was disappointed that Labor once again dragged their feet on that legislation.

“It has been a lot of talk of bipartisanship and having been in the parliament and having been in this government for the last five-and-a-half years, I can’t recall too many occasion when we haven’t had to drag the Labor Party with us when it comes to dealing with these issues.”

In March Home Affairs officials said the department had only been working on the legislation for six to eight months.

Further, the parliamentary intelligence committee released a bipartisan report near the end of the last parliament recommending the exclusion laws be passed subject to a number of recommendations.

Labor foreign affairs spokeswoman Penny Wong said the opposition had supported the exclusion laws.

“The particular legislation in place was the subject of a unanimous agreement from the intelligence committee, and was not presented to the part-time parliament of Mr Morrison,” she said.

Senator Wong accused Mr Morrison of “playing politics” over the laws.

“And as Senate leader, I’ve ensured, with our party, that we have given not only bipartisan support, but prompt passage,” she said.

“We have ensured bipartisan support under Tony Abbott, Malcolm Turnbull, but the only Liberal prime minister in that series who wants to open up a political divide on national security has been Scott Morrison.”