Terrorism in Australia

Terrorism in Australia is defined as "an action or threat of action where the action causes certain defined forms of harm or interference and the action is done or the threat is made with the intention of advancing a political, religious or ideological cause". Australia has known acts of modern terrorism since the 1960's, while the federal parliament, since the 1970s, has enacted legislation seeking to penalize those who commit, or conspire to cause, acts of modern terrorism.

Legislation

Main articles: Australian anti-terrorism legislation, 2004 and Australian Anti-Terrorism Act 2005

Prior to the 1960's, there had not been any act in Australia that could accurately be deemed "terrorism" in the modern political and strategic sense of the word. Politically motivated violent incidents were rare, usually isolated, and for the most part driven by issues arising from political legislation, greed, or individuals being singled out, such as the attempted assassination of Australian Labour Party Leader Arthur Calwell in 1965 over his Vietnam War stance. Likewise the 1968 attack on the US Consulate in Melbourne was also regarded to be an isolated incident protesting the US involvement in Vietnam. The two exceptions to this state of affairs would be the assassination attempt on the Duke of Edinburgh in 1868 by an Irish Nationalist named O'Farrell, who was later executed for his crime, and an attack in Broken Hill in 1915 by Afghan supporters of the Sultan of Turkey.

Although it had known sporadic acts through its history, and examples of modern terrorism for almost a decade, Australia did not introduce terrorism specific laws into Parliament until the late 1970's. In 1977, after a three year inquiry into Australia's intelligence services, Justice Robert Hope delivered his Royal Commission on Intelligence and Security (RCIS). THe RCIS recommended amongst other things that the Australian Security and Intelligence Organisation(ASIO) areas of investigation be widened to include terrorism. A further Protective Security Review by Justice Hope in 1978 following the Hilton Hotel bombings designated ASIO as the government agency responsible for producing national threat assessments in the field of terrorism and politically motivated violence.

Since then, successive governments have reviewed and altered the shape of both legislation and the agencies that enforce it to cope with the changing face, threat and scope of terrorism. It was not until after the attacks of 11 September, 2001 however, that Australian policy began to change to reflect a growing threat against Australia and Australians specifically. Until then the view held from the 1960's had been that terrorist actions in Australia were considered as a problem imported from conflicts overseas and concerned with foreign targets on Australian soil.

As of March 2008, the latest legislation to be bought into effect is the Anti-Terrorism Act (No. 2) 2005

History

The following is a list of notable terrorist actions in Australia, or actions that served to shape public opinion and government policy on terrorism and counter terrorism. The latter are marked with a *. The list is by no means exhaustive, and serves to illustrate that while not firmly in the public image, Australia has long known terrorist or terror related activities, as well as tactics that would become synonymous with terrorism.

• 12 March, 1868: Irish Nationalist Henry James O'Farrell attempts the assassination of the Duke of Edinburgh in Sydney.
• 1 January, 1915: 4 killed and 7 wounded by two supporters of the Ottoman Empire in Broken Hill.
• 17 November, 1966: A parcel bomb believed to be meant for a major pro-Yugoslavian supporter explodes prematurely in the mail room of Melbourne's General Post Office (GPO).
• 18 August, 1968: Petrol bombs used in an unsuccessful attack on the United States Consulate's office in Melbourne.*
• 26 May, 1971: Qantas pays an AU $500,000 ransom after extortionists threaten them with plane and airport bombings.Ansett Airlines are the subject of a series of similar threats over the next two months.*
• 16 September, 1972: Bomb explodes in the Yugoslav General Trade and Tourist Agency, Sydney. 16 wounded, 2 critically. Extensive property damage.
• 19 November, 1975: Two employees of the Queensland Premier's Department are wounded when they open a letter bomb addressed to Premier Jon Bjelke-Petersen. A similar letter bomb is found in mail addressed to Prime Minister Malcolm Fraser and defused.*
• 15 September, 1977: The Indian military attaché in Canberra and his wife are kidnapped from their home at gunpoint. The attaché is wounded in the attack with stab wounds to his chest.
• 19 October, 1977: An employee of the Air India office in Melbourne is stabbed by an unidentified man who said he had a registered letter to deliver to the manager.
• 13 February, 1978: 3 are killed and 7 wounded by a bomb which explodes outside of the Hilton Hotel in Sydney during the regional Commonwealth Heads of State meeting. The UPRF (Universal Proutist Revolutionary Federation) wing of the Anada Marga sect is implicated, but their role is never conclusively proven. Despite initial convictions against 3 Australian members, the rulings are later overturned.
• 9 February, 1979: Nine Croatians are arrested in Sydney and two hundred pounds of explosives are seized in an alleged plot to blow up offices and disrupt the city's water supply.
• 1 April, 1979: The Editor of Melbourne's Sunday Observer hands a copy of an article they had been sent - How to make a Hydrogen Bomb, to security services. The same article had been prohibited from being published in the United States by a court injunction. The article is not published in Australia.
• 4 April, 1979: Domenico Speranzo tries to hijack Pan Amercian flight in Sydney, demanding to be flown to Rome, then Moscow. He threatens to blow up the plane with a home made bomb that uses explosives and a beer can but is shot by police before he can light the device. He later dies in hospital.
• 17 December, 1980: The Turkish Consul-General to Australia and his bodyguard are assassinated in Sydney. Responsibility is claimed by JCAG (Justice Commandos against Armenian Genocide) , in "retaliation for the injustices done to Armenians by the Turks in 1915".
• 23 December, 1982: A bomb explodes in the building housing the Israeli Consulate in Sydney, injuring 2. A second bomb explodes later that day outside a Jewish club.

Organisations

Main article: List of terrorist organisations outlawed in Australia

In September 2007 there were 19 organisations designated and banned, by a court or a government department, for active involvement in terrorism. All but one of those organisations are Islamic. Identification of terrorist organisations may result from a prosecution for a terrorist offence, or from a listing determined by the Attorney-General of Australia.

Notable persons

David Hicks

Main article: David Hicks

File:David hicks full frame.jpg

David Hicks with a Rocket propelled grenade in training with the KLA

David Hicks, also known by the Islamic name Muhammad Dawood, is an Australian national who admitted his role in providing material support to terrorism in March 2007 as a collaborator with Al-Qaeda. He served a sentence of seven years imprisonment, presently in South Australia. He was released on 29 December 2007.

Mamdouh Habib

Main article: Mamdouh Habib

Mamdouh Habib

Mamdouh Habib was imprisoned at Guantanamo Bay on suspicion of involvement in terrorism. He was arrested in October 2001 while travelling by bus to Karachi, Pakistan. He travelled to New York City, USA, prior to the 1993 World Trade Center bombing where he visited Sheikh Omar Abdel Rahman, who had issued a death fatwa against Anwar Sadat and was sentenced to life imprisonment for attacking US targets including conspiratorial responsibility for the 1993 World Trade Center bombing.

It was alleged by the United States government that while Habib was in Afghanistan, he took an advanced Al-Qaeda training course in a camp near Kabul that allegedly included training on surveillance and photographing facilities, the establishment and use of safe houses, covert travel, and writing secret reports. Australian authorities say that several other men who took part in the course identified him as having been there. Evidence supporting these allegations has not been made public. In interviews he has refused to confirm whether he was in Afghanistan.

Faheem Khalid

Faheem Khalid Lodhi is an Australian architect accused of a October 2003 plot to bomb the national electricity grid or Sydney defence sites in the cause of violent jihad. He was convicted by a New South Wales Supreme Court jury in June 2006 on terrorism-related offences, namely:

• Preparation for terrorist attack, by seeking information for the purpose of constructing explosive devices
• Seeking information and collecting maps of the Sydney electricity supply system and possessing 38 aerial photos of military installations in preparation for terrorist attacks
• Possessing terrorist manuals detailing how to manufacture poisons, detonators, explosives and incendiary devices

He was sentenced to 20 years imprisonment with a non-parole period of 15 years. His intended targets were the national electricity supply system, the Victoria Barracks, HMAS Penguin naval base, and Holsworthy Barracks. Justice Anthony Whealy commented at sentencing that Lodhi had "the intent of advancing a political, religious or ideological cause, namely violent jihad" to "instill terror into members of the public so that they could never again feel free from the threat of bombing in Australia."

Mohammed Abderrahman

Mohammed Abderrahman is a French Islamist al-Qaeda recruit who resided with Faheem Lodhi while in Australia in 2003, during which time he married a former Australian Army signaller. He was arrested by Australian immigration compliance officials in Sydney six weeks after the marriage and deported to France.

His wife said before a French investigating judge that at times he had 'bombarded' her with questions on the subject of her military knowledge and career. She reports that she rebuffed such questioning or responded minimally 'so that he would leave [her] in peace' and that she burned three of her notebooks originating from the period of her military service in East Timor as a precaution. She reported his anger about her taking such precautions, his presumption to forbid her from further similar actions, and she exactly confirmed his repeated statement of the opinion that "Allah and all Muslims need this information" in order to obtain information of a military character from her.

In December 2006, it was reported that a basis for French terrorism-related charges laid against him was the allegation that he aided the murderers of Ahmad Shah Masood by supplying them with false identity documents.

He is presently in custody as a terrorism suspect in France where prosecutors have called for him to be sentenced to 10 years' imprisonment for his admitted involvement in a terrorist organisation.

Control order

On 28 August 2006, following the quashing of his convictions, Joseph T. Thomas was the first person to be issued with a control order under the Australian Anti-Terrorism Act 2005 after written consent was provided by the Australian Attorney-General Philip Ruddock. In December 2007 a control order was issued against David Hicks to ensure that he was monitored upon his release.

Incidents

There have been many Australians killed or seriously wounded as a result of terrorism, most of the victims were travelling or working outside of Australia. Australia has been a direct target most notably in the 2004 Australian embassy bombing, although all fatalities were Indonesian nationals.

Sydney Hilton bombing

Main article: Sydney Hilton bombing

On 13 February 1978, a bomb exploded outside the Hilton Hotel in Sydney, which was hosting the first Commonwealth Heads of Government Regional Meeting. Two garbage collectors and a police officer were killed and eleven others were injured. Although the bombing has been described as a terrorist act, there is no consensus over the identity of the perpetrators. It highlighted corruption within the New South Wales Police Force and resulted in pressure on the federal government for increased support for the anti-terrorism activities of the intelligence services.

Turkish Consulate bombing

Main article: Turkish consulate bombing

On 23 November 1986, a car bomb exploded in a carpark beneath the Turkish Consulate in South Yarra, Victoria, killing the bomber who failed to correctly set up the explosive device. Levon Demirian A Sydney resident with links to an Armenian terrorist group was charged over the attack and served 10 years.

Future threats

In January 2008, head of the International Center for Political Violence and Terrorism Research at Nanyang Technological University, Dr. Rohan Gunaratna, said that a "New crop of home-grown jihadis, groomed to step up and replace the leaders of Australian terror cells who have been arrested or jailed, is almost "mature" enough to launch an operation".

The Australian Federal Police (AFP) reported it had 76 new counter-terrorism cases to investigate in the 2006-7 financial year, and they finalised another 83 cases. As of June 30 2006, the AFP had 83 cases being actively examined by its counter-terrorism unit. The Mercury newspaper reported that "intelligence sources" are aware of the new threats, but they deny there is any evidence that the groups may be close to planning an attack inside Australia.

In early 2008, AFP Commissioner Mick Keelty and NSW Police Commissioner Andrew Scipione said they are investigating new terrorist threats, particularly in NSW.

See also

• Crime in Australia
• 2002 Bali bombings
• 2005 Bali bombings