January 23, 2025
PM called to reveal overseas actors behind race attacks
The Coalition is calling on Anthony Albanese to give more details about the alleged involvement of foreign actors in the recent spate of anti-Semitic attacks in Australia.
The Prime Minister dropped the revelation on Tuesday and has since refused to give further details.
Opposition home affairs spokesman James Paterson on Wednesday said the development would cause "terrible fear" and it was incumbent on Mr Albanese to "say more about what he knows".
"It will be one of the most serious security crises that Australia has faced in peacetime," Senator Paterson said.
"It either means that a transnational terrorist organisation is sponsoring attacks in Australia or that a foreign government is engaged in statesponsored terror targeting the Jewish community in Australia. And this claim will strike terrible fear in the heart of the Jewish community and other Australians who feel like they're on the receiving end of this."
He said Mr Albanese was "irresponsible to put out such a serious claim without more substantiation".
Peter Dutton has also called on Mr Albanese to provide more information.
"When did the Prime Minister find out that there were foreign players?" the Opposition Leader said.
"Are these state actors or organised crime groups? Or are they anti-Semitic groups? What did the Prime Minister know?" He said Mr Albanese "should provide what information he can publicly". Mr Albanese, however, said he was "reluctant to say anything that compromises" investigations.
Australian Federal Police Commissioner Reece Kershaw on Wednesday said the AFP believed "criminals for hire" could be behind some of the incidents.
The news came after a 33year-old man charged with attempting to set fire to a Newtown synagogue was identified as Adam Edward Moule, who was arrested on Tuesday.
NSW police on Wednesday said a second man would be arrested "shortly".
Mr Kershaw meanwhile confirmed there was "good progress" and "strong leads" for the anti-Semitic attack at the synagogue in Allawah. "So part of our inquiries include who is paying those criminals, where those people are, whether they are in Australia or offshore and what their motivation is," he said. "There is still a lot of investigative work to be done."