Anthony Byrne (Holt, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Security threats facing Australia are real, but we are in a very strong position, and we are very prepared to detect and defeat them. Last month, in my home city of Melbourne, Australia experienced its eighth terrorist attack, but it went virtually unnoticed. Momena Shoma, who was already serving a lengthy prison term for terrorism, allegedly attacked another female inmate. Recently, a man in Queensland was arrested and charged with one count of acts done in preparation for, or planning, a terrorist act. At the same time, ASIO has told us that the threat of right-wing extremism is growing and now composes between 30 and 40 per cent of ASIO's case load. I'm told that ASIO is seeing young Australians—some as young as 14—being radicalised online.

As serious as these threats are, I'm confident that our security and law enforcement agencies are well placed to respond to them. There have been multiple arrests, convictions and disruptions this year alone, but we cannot be complacent. The terrorism threat is at 'probable', which means a terrorist event is likely. That means our agencies believe that even now there are those in our country who wish to do us harm. The intended perpetrators of attacks, driven by these twisted ideologies, know that the Christmas and new year period is a special time of year, so they would see an attack as a significant disruption and a damager of morale. We must all remain vigilant and aware without being alarmed, fortified by the knowledge that our security and intelligence agencies are working around the clock to see us safe.

Together, in this most challenging year, we have seen off the worst of the COVID pandemic. Together, we will also meet and defeat those— (Time expired)