Anti-Semitic explosive caravan terror plot: Australian Jewish fears ‘not unfounded’ in wake of foiled attack
Treasurer Jim Chalmers says fears held by the Jewish community in Australia “are not unfounded” in the wake of an explosive filled caravan being found north of Sydney, while Jewish leaders have criticised police and Government for a lack of leadership and action.
Dr Chalmers described the discovery of the van in Dural as “incredibly disturbing”.
“What it shows is that the fears that many have in the Jewish community in Australia are not unfounded when we hear these kinds of reports,” he said on Sky News.
“Now I know that the joint counter-terrorism teams have described this as a potential mass casualty event which is chilling, which is disturbing.
“We know that the threat is now being contained, we know that arrests have already been made and I thank the police and the authorities for what they’ve been able to do here.”
Following the potential “terror” plot being foiled after a by-chance discovery from a Dural local, NSW Police said they were doing “everything” to investigate what could have been a “mass causality event”. However, they have not yet ruled the evolving situation a terror incident.
NSW Police Commissioner Karen Webb lashed out on Thursday, saying the investigation becoming “compromised” following a leak that is understood to have occurred from agencies investigating the discovery in secret for 10 days.
Opposition leader Peter Dutton threw his support behind the NSW Police, AFP and ASIO as questions continue to swirl around when the Government were briefed on the potential “terror” attack.
“Had this terrorist attack taken place, if the reports are correct, around 40m blast zone, this would have been the most significant terrorist attack and loss of life in our country’s history,” he said at a press conference on Thursday.
“So full marks to the New South Wales Police, the AFP and ASIO and everyone else involved in this investigation. This is a deeply serious matter, and it has not gone away as an issue for our country.”
“I think we have had a terrorist attack that has been thwarted that had the potential to kill hundreds of people.”
Australia, Israel and Jewish Affairs Council executive director Dr Colin Rubenstein said: “Enough is enough; we are fed up.”
“We haven’t seen the appropriate leadership and enforcement that I think most Australians expect,” Mr Rubenstein told Sky News Australia.
The discovery of the caravan follows a string of other incidents including synagogue fires, car fires, and even an attack on a childcare centre.
Jewish Liberal MP Julian Leeser, whose electorate includes Dural, told ABC News: “The time for half measures is over.”
“We need to throw the book at anyone and everyone engaged in anti-Semitic attacks and we need to improve and increase security provided to the Jewish community as we would to any community that is facing the sort of threats that the Jewish community is facing today,” he said.
“Because this is not just an attack on the Jewish community. It’s an attack on our Australian way of life.”
Peter Wertheim, co-chief executive of the Executive Council of Australian Jewry on Monday said the community should have been informed about the caravan discovery, saying instead they found out via media reports.
“I think they should have told us earlier, before it hit the media, because the impact on the community then could have been managed,” he said at a press conference.
“It’s always better to face your fears when you understand what you’re facing rather than to be presented with something out of the blue. And so, whilst there might have been some justification for secrecy in the initial stage of the investigation, I think that time had long passed.”
The community were left in the dark so that NSW Police could conduct investigations covertly, according to Ms Webb and NSW Premier Chris Minns.
Defending the decision not to inform the Jewish community about the threat that reportedly could have caused a 40m-wide explosion, Mr Minns said: “We would let the public know immediately unless it compromised the police investigation.”
“I want to make it clear, if a counter-terrorism investigation began this afternoon I wouldn’t issue a media release unless NSW Police told me that is what we needed to do for the inquiry,” he told Sunrise.
“These are complicated inquiries. I have confidence in their experience and expertise in relation to this because they have foiled terrorist attack after terrorist attack and kept Australia safe for over 20 years since September 11.
“So, these are difficult decisions, I am not suggesting otherwise, but there is a massive police inquiry that is taking place and police should be able to continue those inquiries.
“They make a decision that this needs to be done behind the scenes without talking about methods and tactics that they deploy … There is a very simple reason for that. So, the criminals don’t know what the police are getting up to.”
