The current terrorism threat level remains at “high”, meaning an attack is likely, however Mr Turnbull gave a few words of comfort. Australia’s response must be as “clear-eyed and strategic as it is determined”.
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Spy agency ASIO says it is investigating about 170 people in Australia who are supporting extremist groups in Syria and Iraq. “We will defeat these terrorists”, he said.
His return coincided with a poll in The Australian newspaper showing that Australians overwhelmingly fear a similar attack at home, with 76 percent of the 1,573 interviewees believing a terror event was either inevitable, very likely or likely.
New Australian Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull Sunday acknowledged the leadership of his Malaysian counterpart Datuk Seri Najib Razak in fighting terrorism, saying the cooperation between the two countries on the issue “has never been stronger”.
Turnbull said a new five-tier scale would be introduced this week that would provide the public with more information on the nature of the threat. But it was in a fundamentally weak position – it had more smartphones than guns, more Twitter accounts than soldiers.
“Our first point of call in relation to these investigations is where there’s been a criminal offence committed we arrest, charge and prosecute”, he said.
In closing, the Prime Minister said that Australia would stare down terrorists in the way we always have: “The strength of our free people will see off these thugs and tyrants as it has seen off so many of their kind before”. Instead the “menace” must be defeated by being calm, clinical and professional.
Australian Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull on Tuesday called for greater intelligence sharing in Southeast Asia to stop a Paris-style attack and ordered local law enforcement officials to test their readiness to handle a mass casualty attack.
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As has been the case during his travels, the threat from Islamic State is set to dominate the agenda with debate resuming on draft laws to strip dual nationals suspected of terrorism of their Australian citizenship. “Our focus is always on striking the right balance between national security considerations and the fundamental democratic rights and freedoms all Australians cherish”, the Labor leader said. Meanwhile, coalition backbencher George Christensen said the death penalty should apply to terrorists and attacked those who did not believe the country was at war.
