Australia: Terror Trail Down Under
Australia conjures up images of sun,
beaches and a relaxed lifestyle. As with most stereotypes, there is a kernel of
truth to such perceptions. For example, in the annual list of the world’s most
liveable cities produced by the Economist Intelligence Unit, Melbourne gained
first place for seven years in a row between 2011 to 2017. This year, Melbourne
came second, with Sydney and Adelaide also placed in the top ten.
In this context, considerations of
terrorism seem somewhat anachronistic. However, Australia is steadily
increasing its prominence in another list: that of targets for
Islamist-inspired terror plots.
In November, images went global of a lone
terrorist attacking police and bystanders with a knife. Hassan Khalif Shire Ali,
a Somali born immigrant to Australia, was shot dead by police after killing one
70-year-old civilian and wounding several others, as well as trying to blow up
his car filled with gas canisters in Melbourne’s central business district
while reportedly exclaiming “Allahu Akbar”.
Shire Ali’s abortive attempt to cause
mayhem in central Melbourne was by no means the first radical Islamist plot. As
in other Western locations, Australia has become an increasing target for
terrorist attacks since the tragic events of September 2001 in the USA.
Australian Prime Minister Scott Morrison,
in responding to the recent attack in Melbourne, provided a snapshot on the
trail of terror plots. He pointed out that 90 people have been charged in
connection with 40 counter-terrorism operations across Australia. This has
involved “14 successful counter terrorism disruptions”. Mr Morrison added that
“12 tranches of counter-terrorism legislation have been passed on a bipartisan
basis” in the Australian parliament.
Australian Security Intelligence Organisation
spokespeople separately indicted that there are currently 400 priority cases of
suspected terrorism under some degree of surveillance.
Within four years of the 9/11 attacks, a
radical Islamist cell in Australia hatched a plot to bomb the 2005 Melbourne
Grand Final of the Australian football competition, also targeting the 2006
Australian Grand Prix and the Melbourne Crown Casino. The group, led by
Algerian born immigrant Abdul Nacer Benbrika, also reportedly planned to
assassinate then Australian Prime Minister John Howard.
Four years later, three other migrants to
Australia were found guilty of planning an armed attack on an Army base in
Sydney with the intention of killing as many soldiers as possible. In
sentencing the men, Supreme Court judge Betty King commented that "All of
you believe in the principle of martyrdom. All of you believe it is your
obligation to oppose and deal with those you describe as infidels."
In a more recent case, four Islamist
radicals were found guilty of plotting to “wage violent jihad” against the
public on Christmas Day 2016 in Melbourne’s Federation Square. Quoting from
Qur’an verse 47:4, one of the accused said they planned to “smite the necks” of
bystanders with machettes.
Responses
In the context of such a litany of planned
atrocities, Prime Minister Morrison’s response to the recent attack on November
9 was refreshingly frank. He declared “We
would be kidding ourselves if we did not call out the fact that the greatest
threat of religious extremism … is the radical and dangerous ideology of extremist
Islam … If you're an Imam or a leader in one of those communities ... you can't
look the other way.”
Prime Minister Morrison, a practising
Christian, in turn became the target of criticism for associating the terrorist
attack with Islam. Opposition Labor Party MP Anne Aly accused him of singling
out communities and dividing Australians because of his identification of
radical Islam as a threat to Australia.
While most churches have remained silent on
the debate about terminology, Uniting Church in Australia President Dr Deidre
Palmer joined those voices wanting to censor any reference to Islam in
discussing the terrorist attack. She
declared “I share the concerns of Muslim leaders who are rightly disturbed by
such comments which can be alienating for the whole Muslim community.”
Staking a claim to expertise on Islam, Dr
Palmer continued: “Islam is a religion that actively promotes peace and we know
that Muslim leaders in Australia work very hard to share this peaceful message
of Islam and counter any misrepresentations.”