Premier Daniel Andrews under fire over parole system after Brighton attack
Daniel Andrews has come under fire over parole laws that freed a serious career criminal to stage a terror attack.
BRIGHTON TERROR ATTACK LIVE COVERAGE: Follow The Australian’s rolling coverage of reaction to the deadly terror attack in Brighton. In the hostage crisis a paroled gunman and another man were killed and three police officers wounded at a block of serviced apartments in Melbourne.
KEY DEVELOPMENTS
• Attacker named as Yacqub Khayre, 29, from Roxburgh Park
• Khayre was on parole at the time of the incident
• Victoria Police are treating it as a terrorist incident
• Islamic State has claimed responsibility
• An employee of the apartments, a Chinese-born Australian man, was shot dead
Sam Hutchinson 3.30pm: Andrews ‘weak’ on crime
Victorian Daniel Andrews has been called weak and been urged to resign by the opposition in the wake of the Brighton siege which claimed the life of an innocent man, and left three policemen with serious injuries.
In a gruelling question time, the Premier was slammed for systematic failures in the state’s parole system which left repeat violent offender and experienced terror plotter Yacqub Khayre to roam the streets, and plot yesterday’s attack.
“What does a criminal have to do to be denied parole in the state of Victoria,” opposition leader Matthew Guy demanded of the Premier as he kicked off Question Time in the Legisatilve Assembly.
“The man who committed the Brighton crimes last night has 16 priors for burglary, 15 priors for theft, has attempted armed robbery ... he committed firearms offences, intentionally causing injury and committed arson while in jail,” Mr Guy said.
“Premier, why was this man on our streets? You are weak and you should resign.”
Mr Andrews shot back that the opposition needed to stop “playing politics” with terrorism, and that cheap shots within the chamber wouldn’t help make the state safer.
“Shame on you,” Mr Andrews said. “Nothing is to be gained from playing politics with terrorism.”
In the face of calls to make immediate changes to parole laws, Mr Andrews has shown early resistance to a knee-jerk reaction, telling parliament he would wait for the results of an investigation into the incident before reviewing laws and legislation.
In an earlier press conference, Mr Andrews said he would give Victorian Police chief commissioner Graham Ashton and the police force “whatever is needed” to make the state safe.
The fiery attack in parliament followed on from strong comments this morning from Malcolm Turnbull, who demanded to know why Khayre was released on parole, with a history of violent offences and known links to international Islamist terror cells.
“There are some very, very grave questions and I have raised with the Victorian Premier: how was this man on parole?” Mr Turnbull said.
“He had a long record of violence, a very long record of violence, and had been tried for terrorist offences some years ago and had been acquitted ... he was known to have connections at least in the past with violent extremism, and he was a known violent offender. How was he on parole?”
Mr Turnbull spoke with Mr Andrews last night and again this morning, with conversations expected to continue throughout the day as more results from the investigation became known, and more about the information flows between law enforcement officers and the Adult Parole Board are released.
Federal opposition leader Bill Shorten this afternoon raised the same concerns about Victoria’s parole response.
“My reaction when I heard that is, how on earth can someone be on parole and do these crimes?
“If we know the person is a criminal, what are they doing out on the streets? Now I’m sure there will be a backstory, and the state government’s going to work through all of those issues.”
Corrections Minister Gayle Tierney also repeatedly dodged questions in the legislative council, regarding what access parole board officers had to information about Khayre’s past offences, including the bungled terror plot at Sydney’s Holsworthy army base.
In response to questioning, Ms Tierney told parliament that there were more 22 offenders within the state’s corrections system who had been identified as potential religious extremists, and had been enrolled in a deradicalisation program being conducted by the Islamic Council of Victoria.
“What I can advise is that in the last state budget there was an allocation of $6.385 million over four years for anti-radicalisation programs and I can advise the House that the Islamic Council of Victoria is contracted to deliver the program and is currently working with up to 22 prisoners and people in the community each year,” she said.
2.20pm: GPS tamper sparked alert
Long-time criminal Yacqub Khayre tampered with his GPS ankle bracelet during a terror attack that killed an innocent man and wounded three police officers, AAP reports.
Police are investigating whether Khayre deliberately lured them into a deadly ambush after it was revealed he had booked a female escort, whom he took hostage, and sparked an alert on his tracker.
The Somali-born man was on parole when he shot a man dead in a Brighton apartment building and barricaded himself inside a room on Monday afternoon.
Simon Benson 12.28pm: Terrorist cut off ankle bracelet
Terrorist Yacqub Khayre cut off the ankle bracelet which was monitoring him while he was on parole for a violent home invasion.
A security source confirmed to The Australian Khayre had removed the tracking device before the Brighton attack.
Joe Kelly 12.20pm: ‘Weed out root cause’ of terror
Queensland Nationals MP George Christensen tweeted twice in quick succession in support of a push to expel adherents of a radical version of Islamist ideology from the country.
The first tweet said: “Purveyors of Islamist ideology need to be expelled from our nation. If not, how many more deaths of our fellow countrymen will there be?”
But Mr Christensen quickly sought to clarify the first tweet, narrowing its scope to hone-in on those promoting acts of terror through an extremist version of Islam.
“We should weed out root cause of terror acts. Purveyors of radical Islamist ideology need to be hunted down and expelled from our nation,’ he said.
12pm: ‘You don’t get shocked in this area’
Police are scouring a house in suburban Melbourne for evidence after a terrorist siege. Sherwin Place in Roxburgh Park has been blocked off and police have set up tents in the street as they search the house where the 29-year-old criminal Yacqub Khayre lived with his mother.
Neighbour Icy Agustsson he had no idea Khayre was a terror suspect.
“I don’t talk to them much, people keep to themselves in this area,” Mr Agustsson told AAP.
“But it doesn’t worry me, you get used to it and see it on TV. (Police) have to do their job.
“You don’t get shocked in this area. But no I had no idea (he’d been on terror charges),” Mr Agustsson said.
11am: Gunman’s home raided
The home the Melbourne siege gunman shared with his mother has been raided by police who at this stage believe he was acting alone. The home was raided by police on Tuesday morning.
AFP Acting Commissioner Michael Phelan say the events “do demonstrate the threat of terror is real in this country” but the threat level remains at “probable”. “To raise it to the next level means we have very specific intelligence an event will occur,” he says.
“We do not have that intelligence.” However, Mr Phelan says the crime scene, the home and the gunman’s electronic data were still being examined.
“We must be careful...the motivation will hopefully come out once we examine the material.” - AAP
10.45am:
The Prime Minister responds to the terror attack in Melbourne. pic.twitter.com/NiF185cDuV
— The PMO (@thepmo) June 6, 2017
Samantha Hutchinson 10.40am: Parole changes on COAG agenda
The Prime Minister said he will press for stronger counter-terrorism measures and reforms to bail laws with state premiers at COAG meeting on Friday, and would reiterate the importance of a post-sentence detention system for offenders who have served their sentences but still show signs of terrorist links, or poor chances of rehabilitation.
“Australians need to be assured that people who are a threat to their safety are not being released on parole and clearly this person … well, more investigations and explanations will be given but it is plainly very hard to understand why he was released on parole given the nature of his record and the nature of his offences.”
Other possible changes for discussion at COAG include a full review of areas in cities where people like to congregate, and ramping up security and physical protections such as bollards to prevent the likelihood of copycat lone wolf attacks with heavy trucks and cars, as have been seen in London and Nice.
Mr Turnbull said that was “absolutely” concerned about the threat of a possible copycat attack in the wake of recent terror events in London and Manchester, and now Brighton.
10.20am: Hostage not injured
More on the female hostage, from Victoria Police Chief Commissioner Graham Ashton’s press conference earlier today.
Khayre held the escort hostage in the ground-floor apartment for hours during Monday’s siege She was not sexually assaulted during the siege, Mr Ashton said. “He (Khayre) arranged to meet her as part of an escort service and booked her through the escort agencies for those purposes,” he said.
“She was in the room against her will but she wasn’t physically injured.” He had forced her to ring Seven’s Melbourne newsroom where she said she was being held hostage, and Khayre said: “This is for IS, this is for al-Qaeda”.
10.10am:
This is the key moment where Yacqub Khayre walked free. Accused but not convicted of terror after jury trial:https://t.co/9K3kQLG5sP
— David Crowe (@CroweDM) June 6, 2017
10am:
9.55am: Was this a plot to lure police?
A line from Chief Commissioner Graham Ashton’s press conference earlier this morning. He said it was too early to know what attack gunman Yacqub Khayre had been planning, but said it was a “possibility” that he wanted to ambush police.
“That’s all been weighed into the calculations but we haven’t found anything like a note or anything like that so far.”
Primrose Riordan 9.40am: Turnbull grills Andrews on parole
Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull says he has grilled Victorian Premier Daniel Andrews on why the Melbourne offender was on parole.
Mr Turnbull said it was clear this was an “Islamist terror attack”. “We face a growing threat of Islamist terror attack in Australia,” he said.
He said he has spoken to Mr Andrews last night and this morning.
“There are some very, very grave questions. I have raised these today with the Victorian Premier, whom I called last night and I called again this morning. How was this man on parole? He had a long record of violence. A very long record of violence. He had been charged with a terrorist offence some years ago and had been acquitted.
“He was known to have connections, at least in the past, with violent extremism. But he was a known, violent offender.”
9.34am:
Turnbull: Yacqub Khayre had long record of violent offending. Accused in a terrorism prosecution and acquitted. Offended while in prison.
— Rhian Deutrom (@Rhi_lani) June 5, 2017
9.30am: PM - terror attack ‘shocking’
Malcolm Turnbull has described last night’s terror attack as ‘shocking and cowardly’. He has also asked why Yacqub Khayre was allowed to be released on parole.
“It is a terrorist attack and it underlines the need for us to be constantly vigilant, never to be deterred, always defiant, in the face of Islamist terrorism,” Mr Turnbull said.
More to come ...
9.22am: Watch - PM’s press conference
9.20am: Abbott’s plan to stamp out terror
Former prime minister Tony Abbott has spoken to 2GB this morning, saying every effort must be made so returning jihadists are not free to “walk in our streets”, reports AAP.
“The first step is to redouble our efforts to crush the so-called caliphate in the Middle East,” Mr Abbott said. “The second step is to redouble our efforts to ensure no returning jihadists are loose on our streets and the third step is to take much more vigorous measures to close down these centres of hate preaching.”
9.13am:
The Prime Minister will hold a press conference at 915. Follow LIVE on the PM's Facebook page: https://t.co/L8F0gzr9RT
— The PMO (@thepmo) June 5, 2017
Samantha Hutchinson 9.10am: Police numbers could increase
Victorian Premier Daniel Andrews told the state that the threat of terrorism and lone wolf attacks can never be eliminated, but the state will not rule out beefing up police force numbers and counter terrorism powers to manage the risk in the wake of a IS-inspired siege.
“The chief commissioner has more powers and more resources than has even been the case and counter-terrorism command today confirms that was the right investment to make … but anything else the chief commissioner needs, he will get it,” Mr Andrews told a media conference in the wake of the siege that left two men dead, and three police injured.
Victoria Police chief commissioner Graham Ashton revealed the attacker had originally arrived in Australia with his family as part of a refugee resettlement program, and was acquitted in the NSW legal system for a planned terror attack on Sydney’s Holsworthy army base, before relocating to Victoria.
The Premier noted that the gunman had been fully complaint with the full gamut of parole conditions in the lead up to the siege, and had been checking in regularly with his parole officer, and had been abiding by a nightly curfew and drug tests imposed as part of his parole requirements.
“We’ll make the point that he served significant jail time .. his sentence had been increased because of poor behaviour in prison, but since that he’s been compliant [with parole conditions] including drugs tests, attending appointments and observing curfews,” Mr Ashton said.
“The important point to know here today is that not only he was eligible to receive parole but he had been compliant with the terms of the conditions granted to him.”
“Of course it’s a concern to all of us that someone who was compliant … could commit such a crime.”
The Premier has spoken with the Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull twice since the siege ended, with conversations expected to continue over the day regarding a co-ordinated response to the heightened risk of terror.
A woman involved in the siege was left rattled, but physically unharmed in the incident, Mr Ashton added.
“She’s been traumatised by what happened, and certainly kept in the apartment against her will,” Mr Ashton said.
9am:
Ashton says 'possibility' that Brighton gunman was seeking to lure police officers to scene.
— Ewin Hannan (@EwinHannan) June 5, 2017
John Ferguson 8.50am: Gunman yelled at police
Yacqub Khayre stormed out of the building yelling at police. Police saw him emerge from the building, brandishing a shotgun.
“There was something yelled, we’re still piecing that together,” Mr Ashton said.
Mr Ashton said that police were aware of Khayre’s background as a militant. “He’s known to us as having that background,” he said.
John Ferguson 8.40am: ‘Lone wolf’
A police press conference regarding last night’s siege has started.
The hostage taker appears to have been a lone wolf, according to Police Chief Commissioner Graham Ashton. Mr Ashton said he had been on parole since last November.
Corrections officials said that he had not breached his parole conditions. He said the hostage taker had hired an escort before storming the apartment block.
Using a shotgun, he apparently murdered a staff member at the serviced apartments. He shot the three policeman with the shotgun. They have suffered relatively minor wounds.
The hostage taker was living at home with his mother at Roxburgh Park in Melbourne’s outer north.
8.25am: Gunman was meeting escort
The female hostage, who was later freed, was an escort who had been booked by the gunman.
“We understand he’s arranged to meet her as part of an escort service and booked her services and met her there for the purposes of those services with the escort agency,” Victoria Police Chief Commissioner Graham Ashton said.
Vic Police offer some details on the two victims caught up in the #BrightonSiege pic.twitter.com/fItA308fez
— News Breakfast (@BreakfastNews) June 5, 2017
Tessa Akerman 8.15am: Scene cordoned off
It has been a long shift for police officers on Bay St who have been on duty since 10.30 last night. The street is still cordoned off with two officers guarding the entrance to The Buckingham Serviced Apartments. Two mobile command centres are at the scene.
8.10am: Timeline
Here is how last night unfolded.
4pm - Police respond to a call about an explosion at an apartment building in Brighton * They find a dead man in the foyer, he appears to have been shot * They start trying to negotiate with a man inside an apartment, who was holding a woman against her will.
4.30pm - Witnesses report “two big bangs” before cops back up behind their cars and clear the area.
5.41pm - Seven Network Melbourne newsroom gets a call from a woman who says she’s a hostage; A man takes over the phone call to say “This is for IS, this is for al-Qaeda.”; Seven calls police to report the call.
6pm - A gunman bursts out of the apartment and starts firing at police, injuring three of them * Police fire back and kill him * The woman is freed * Two police officers are taken to hospital with gunshot wounds, a third is treated at the scene.
8pm - Deputy Commissioner Andrew Crisp says police are investigating terrorism as one avenue of inquiry.
Today - Police confirm they are treating the siege as a terrorist incident and that the gunman was linked to a plot to launch a suicide attack on Sydney’s Holsworthy army barracks in 2009
John Ferguson 8.05am: Hostage-taker named
Victoria Police have confirmed that Yacqub Khayre was the hostage-taker killed in a hail of bullets last night at a Brighton apartment block. Khayre was acquitted over the terror plot against the Holsworthy army barracks in Sydney in 2009.
Police allege that he was shot after storming out of the building last night and shooting three police. Khayre was reportedly out on parole.
7.55am: IS claims responsibility
The attack in Melbourne, Australia was carried out by a soldier of the Islamic State in response to the call for targeting the subjects of the coalition states,” the group’s Amaq news agency said. IS blamed the attack on Australia’s membership in the US-led coalition against the militant group.
7.50am: Siege being treated as terrorism
Chief Commissioner Graham Ashton has spoken to Channel Seven this morning. ”... We are treating it as a terror attack. We believe that this person was there with those sorts of intentions, albeit we don’t know whether it was something planned at this stage.” There will be a press conference at 8.30am.
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