‘Alarming breakdown’: Albanese under pressure to reveal when he learnt of terror plot

Anthony Albanese is under mounting pressure to reveal whether authorities kept him in the dark about an apparent plot to target a Sydney synagogue with explosives, as a senior Jewish leader accused the prime minister of a “moral failure” for not visiting Sydney’s Jewish community after the discovery.

With the opposition demanding details about exactly when the prime minister learnt about the apparent plot, Albanese refused to answer several questions on Friday probing whether he had been briefed about the discovery of a caravan packed with explosives in north-west Sydney before news of the investigation broke.

Prime Minister Anthony Albanese speaks to the media on Friday.Credit: Chris Hopkins

“I do not talk about operational matters for an ongoing investigation,” Albanese told reporters in Melbourne.

“I have no intention of undermining an ongoing investigation by going into the details. What I will do is continue to prioritise two things: the first and most important is keeping Australians safe; the second is making sure that I provide support to the police and intelligence agencies for them to do their job.”

Opposition Home Affairs Minister James Paterson said he was shocked by reports that NSW Premier Chris Minns knew about the plot before it was revealed to the public, but Albanese did not.

“If true, this is an alarming breakdown of our national security architecture,” Paterson said.

NSW Premier Chris Minns reportedly knew about the caravan discovery before Prime Minister Anthony Albanese.Credit: Nick Moir, NSW Jewish Board of Deputies

“If the PM and ministers are not told about a planned terrorist attack, how can they make the necessary policy decisions to protect the community from other threats?”

NSW Jewish Board of Deputies president David Ossip said it was “deeply disappointing” that Albanese had spent Thursday and Friday in Melbourne rather than with Sydney’s Jewish community, given members’ heightened state of anxiety.

“The prime minister’s reluctance to offer comfort and reassurance in person to Sydney’s Jewish community is a moral failure and not the behaviour one would expect from the leader of our country,” he said.

“What could be a more important use of his time at a moment when the security threat against Sydney’s Jewish community is real and ongoing?”

The prime minister’s office was contacted for comment.

Albanese was criticised for taking four days to visit Melbourne’s Adass Israel Synagogue after it was firebombed in December, but was praised by Jewish leaders for visiting a childcare centre that was torched in Maroubra, in Sydney’s eastern suburbs, on the day.

Alex Ryvchin, the co-chief executive of the Executive Council of Australian Jewry, said he was concerned there appeared to have been a communications failure between state and federal police and the federal government.

“When you are talking about a foiled terror plot of such magnitude and a national crisis of antisemitism, you would expect the prime minister to be in the loop,” he said.

“I would have expected him to have been briefed.”

A spokesperson for the NSW government said state police briefed Minns and Police Minister Yasmin Catley about the matter on January 20 “in line with established protocol”.

“State premiers do not brief national cabinet on operational police matters,” the spokesperson said.

“NSW Police were liaising with federal counterparts through the Joint Counter Terrorism Taskforce.”

A federal source, who declined to be named to discuss sensitive matters, said there was no concern in the government about the timing of the Australian Federal Police briefings to Albanese and others about the caravan.

While national cabinet was not told of the discovery in Dural when it met on January 21, one source said this was because the police wanted to protect the investigation.

Sources familiar with the police operation said the fact a detonator was not found in the caravan was a crucial factor in the determination there was no imminent threat.

The decision on briefing ministers was left to the Joint Counter Terrorism Team that was set up by NSW Police and the AFP to run the investigation into the caravan.

The protocol for these teams was to decide collectively who should be briefed and when, a federal source said.

Australian Strategic Policy Institute executive director Justin Bassi said authorities should have warned both Albanese and Minns about the threat.

“There is distinction between the states and the federal level on crime but terrorism and politically motivated violence is a special category in our law because it is an attack on our whole nation,” said Bassi, who advised former prime minister Malcolm Turnbull on national security.

“If these threats are not discussed at the national cabinet, then what should be discussed at national cabinet?”

Bassi said it was “extremely odd” that so few details of the terrorism threat had been released, warning: “If you leave the public with uncertainty, it risks uncertainty becoming fear.”

The Great Synagogue in Sydney’s central business district said it was distressed to learn it was one of the intended targets of the apparent plot.

Chief rabbi Benjamin Elton at Sydney’s Great Synagogue, a target of the foiled antisemitic plot. Credit: Dion Georgopoulos

“While we thank NSW Police and other agencies for their efforts and ongoing support to protect The Great Synagogue and our community, we have to ask; how is it acceptable in Australia that synagogues and Jews are now deemed regular targets for violence, vandalism and hatred?” the synagogue said in a statement.

The Great Synagogue said it remained open and police had advised there was no ongoing threat to the synagogue.

“Now is not a time for complacency, to overlook antisemitism and let things slide,” the synagogue said.

“We call on every single Australian to stand with their Jewish brothers and sisters and loudly reject the violence which has been threatened against their fellow citizens.”

Zionist Federation of Australia president Jeremy Leibler said he was stunned police had not informed The Great Synagogue or the community support group that provides protection for Jewish schools, temples and museums in NSW about the caravan discovery.

“How do they justify that?” he asked.

“If someone had been killed or harmed there would have been serious questions there.

“It’s important to catch the perpetrators, but more important to protect those who are at risk.”

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