The Attorney-General has accused the Coalition of undermining confidence in law enforcement and stoking fear in the community as the fallout from the release of one of Australia’s most infamous terrorists continues.
Abdul Nacer Benbrika walked free from prison on Tuesday, having spent more than 15 years behind bars after being convicted for being a leader in a terrorist organisation preparing to commit an attack.
The Algerian-born man had formed and led a group advocating for violent jihad against non-believers and had supposedly identified the MCG during the 2005 AFL grand final, Crown Casino on the Grand Prix weekend and the NAB Cup as “possible targets”.
Before Benbrika’s sentence expired in 2020, then home affairs minister Peter Dutton had successfully applied for a continuing supervision order that allows courts to keep convicted terrorists behind bars if they pose an ongoing threat to the community.
That order was due to expire on December 23, with Benbrika’s lawyers asking for a review.
The federal government had applied for an extended supervision order, which Mark Dreyfus said was the “strongest possible action” available to the Commonwealth under law.
“We followed the advice of all operational agencies involved in the matter, including the Australian Federal Police,” Mr Dreyfus said.
He hit back at criticism levelled against him by the Coalition, singling out Acting Opposition Leader Sussan Ley, who had earlier lambasted the government for being ill-prepared for the Benbrika decision.
“The community is not as safe as they would be if this individual was behind bars,” she said on Wednesday morning.
“Why has the government not done every single thing that they could to keep this man behind bars? He’s the worst of the worst.
“They should have left no stone unturned in keeping him behind bars.”
Mr Dreyfus said applying for another continuing detention order “would have failed” and Ms Ley’s criticisms were “disgraceful” and “irresponsible”.
“The opposition continues to play politics will community safety. That has to stop,” he said.
“This government acts on the advice of security and law enforcement agencies in accordance with the law.
“If the opposition is suggesting the government should disregard the advice of law enforcement agencies, they should say that directly.
“The opposition needs to stop undermining confidence and needs to stop stoking fears.”
He suggested Ms Ley take the summer break to “reflect on the way she operates”.
Ms Ley, standing up for her own press conference not long after, called on Prime Minister Anthony Albanese to remove Mr Dreyfus from his role.
“Anthony Albanese needs to reshuffle his ministry before Christmas. Move on Mark Dreyfus, he can’t keep us safe from terrorists. Move on Claire O’Neil, she can’t keep us safe from hardened criminals that she has released onto the streets, the Immigration Minister is nowhere to be seen and the Prime Minister is nowhere to be seen,” Ms Ley said.
She also said Mr Dreyfus should be “ashamed” for not “stepping up and applying for the continuing detention order that ever sane Australian knows was desperately needed in this case”.
“That’s three massive bungles by this Albanese government when it comes to keeping Australians safe from the threat of terrorism,” she said.
Mr Dreyfus had earlier said the Commonwealth had been made “abundantly clear” that a continuing detention order was not available.
In handing down her judgment, Justice Elizabeth Hollingworth said the evidence “clearly establishes” that Benbrika had made substantial progress towards deradicalisation in recent years but accepted the risk of him radicalising others was “still unacceptable at this time”.
Ultimately, she said the risk of offending was low enough to be managed in the community under a “comprehensive” extended supervision order.
“Much of the expert evidence on how he will get on has been based on predictions and judgments … Only time will tell. In the meantime, the community will be protected by the comprehensive and extensive orders,” she said.
https://news.google.com/rss/articles/CBMilgFodHRwczovL3d3dy5uZXdzLmNvbS5hdS9maW5hbmNlL3dvcmsvbGVhZGVycy9tYXJrLWRyZXlmdXMtc3Vzc2FuLWxleS10cmFkZS1iYXJicy1vdmVyLWFiZHVsLW5hY2VyLWJlbmJyaWthL25ld3Mtc3RvcnkvZGYzMWM5MjY1ODkzY2FkN2QxMzFmYzQ0NmMxNzNkMWbSAZoBaHR0cHM6Ly93d3cubmV3cy5jb20uYXUvZmluYW5jZS93b3JrL2xlYWRlcnMvbWFyay1kcmV5ZnVzLXN1c3Nhbi1sZXktdHJhZGUtYmFyYnMtb3Zlci1hYmR1bC1uYWNlci1iZW5icmlrYS9uZXdzLXN0b3J5L2RmMzFjOTI2NTg5M2NhZDdkMTMxZmM0NDZjMTczZDFmP2FtcA?oc=5
2023-12-20 06:00:00Z
CBMilgFodHRwczovL3d3dy5uZXdzLmNvbS5hdS9maW5hbmNlL3dvcmsvbGVhZGVycy9tYXJrLWRyZXlmdXMtc3Vzc2FuLWxleS10cmFkZS1iYXJicy1vdmVyLWFiZHVsLW5hY2VyLWJlbmJyaWthL25ld3Mtc3RvcnkvZGYzMWM5MjY1ODkzY2FkN2QxMzFmYzQ0NmMxNzNkMWbSAZoBaHR0cHM6Ly93d3cubmV3cy5jb20uYXUvZmluYW5jZS93b3JrL2xlYWRlcnMvbWFyay1kcmV5ZnVzLXN1c3Nhbi1sZXktdHJhZGUtYmFyYnMtb3Zlci1hYmR1bC1uYWNlci1iZW5icmlrYS9uZXdzLXN0b3J5L2RmMzFjOTI2NTg5M2NhZDdkMTMxZmM0NDZjMTczZDFmP2FtcA
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