Key events
Asked where he fears “we could see a deadly attack in the coming weeks and months” on ABC News Breakfast, treasurer Jim Chalmers said:
We know from the counter-terrorism teams that they consider this to have been a potential mass-casualty event. That is obviously an extraordinarily serious development and this is why we’re working so closely with them and with the states and territories.
We know that fear is not entirely unfounded when we see developments like this. We’re making sure that whatever can be done will be done and we’ll be briefed on this later this morning.
Chalmers comments on latest foiled explosive attack
The federal treasurer, Jim Chalmers, says “some of the fear that Jewish Australians have is not unfounded” after news of a caravan laden with explosives was found in Sydney, with indications the explosives would be used in an antisemitic attack.
He said on ABC News Breakfast:
Some of the fear that Jewish Australians have is not unfounded. There is absolutely no place for violence or for antisemitism in a country like ours and that’s why we’re working closer than ever with police and other authorities to make sure that we stamp out and root out this antisemitism which is unfortunately becoming a feature all too frequently in our communities.
Ben Doherty
Expert says AFP’s generalist units has ‘mishandled’ international crimes investigations
Further to the Greens’ announcement proposing the establishment of an international crimes investigation unit:
Rawan Arraf, the executive director of the Australian Centre for International Justice, said while Australia had the legal framework to address international crimes “its current institutional capacity is weak”.
“The mishandling of international crimes investigations by generalist units within the Australian Federal Police has been disappointing,” she said:
Permanent, specialised units overseas have had success in holding perpetrators to account. If the Australian government takes its international obligations seriously, it would follow in the footsteps of these overseas jurisdictions by establishing such a unit here.
The establishment of a permanent, specialised international crimes unit would finally open up a pathway for survivor communities in Australia to seek redress for atrocity crimes, and for Australia to effectively coordinate with national and international authorities in an effort to close the impunity gap for international crimes.
There has never been a successful prosecution of any person – Australian or a foreign national – for war crimes, or other international crimes offences (such as crimes against humanity or genocide) in Australia.
(Following the second world war, Australia undertook investigations into Japanese military personnel, but those were undertaken through Australia’s military court system.)
In the 1980s, Australia established a Specialised Investigations Unit to investigate Nazi war criminals present in Australia since the second world war. Four cases were referred for prosecution and three were ultimately prosecuted. None resulted in a finding of guilt.
The CDPP prosecutor at the time, Mark Weinberg, later became a judge and is now the special investigator at the Office of the Special Investigator (OSI), the ad-hoc unit established to investigate allegations of war crimes by Australian special forces in Afghanistan.
The establishment of a dedicated war crimes investigation unit was part of Labor’s policy platform in 2007, but it has since been jettisoned.
Ben Doherty
Greens commit to war crimes investigation unit
The Australian Greens have committed to establishing an international war crimes investigation unit in Australia as part of its policy platform ahead of this year’s election.
The Greens senator and the party’s justice spokesperson, David Shoebridge, said:
Community members who have experienced torture or been subject to genocide and war crimes need to know they are safe here from those who committed these crimes. That’s what this war crimes investigation unit will produce.
The community expects war crimes to be treated seriously but instead have seen delay and avoidance that has prevented accountability for war crimes, even those committed by Australian troops.
Shoebridge said numerous comparable countries – including the UK, Canada, Netherlands, Sweden, Germany, Belgium, France and Switzerland – have permanent and specialised bodies to investigate and prosecute international crimes. The proposed Australian initiative would cost $10m a year.
The Greens said numerous diaspora community groups, including Rwandans, Sri Lankans, Tamils, Fijians, Ukrainians and Palestinians, had raised concerns about alleged war criminals in Australia not facing justice and the risks they pose to their communities. Alleged war criminals who have harmed these communities should be subject to proper investigation and prosecution in Australia, Shoebridge said.
In recent years, alleged war criminals have treated Australia as a safe haven, knowing they won’t face justice because it’s nobody’s job to investigate them. This impunity must end.
Establishing an international war crimes unit is an essential part of upholding the international order and global human rights and it is criminal that Australia does not already have one.
The major parties won’t take responsibility for upholding international law, but the Greens recognise that a strong international system is a pathway to peace.
In today’s Full Story podcast, our senior business reporter, Jonathan Barrett, tells Nour Haydar why so many governments around the world lost power last year because of high inflation, and what Anthony Albanese’s administration could learn from the country that bucked the trend – Mexico.
Rafqa Touma
Thank you to Martin Farrer for kicking off the blog this morning. I’ll be updating you with the day’s news from here.
Albanese government urged to add dental care to Medicare
Natasha May
The peak body for dentists is urging the Albanese government to use the upcoming election as an opportunity to commit to a dental scheme for seniors.
The calls comes as Guardian Australia this week published a series of stories on the state of dental care in Australia, highlighting the inequality of Australian’s access to dental care and how Labor is coming under growing pressure to add dental to Medicare:
As my colleague Dan Jervis-Bardy highlights in that piece, the Australian Dental Association have proposed a dental scheme for seniors, which would provide a capped maximum of $1,132 worth of free dental care for qualifying seniors every two years.
In a statement released today the ADA president, Dr Chris Sanzaro, says the seniors scheme is the affordable option and would address the fact that on average Australians over 65 are missing 14 teeth and around one in four avoid eating some foods due to problems with their teeth or mouth.
Sanzaro said: “a complete overhaul of the way dentistry for older Australians is funded is long overdue, particularly seniors with little or no income in the current cost of living crisis.”
More on this story here:
Zionest Federation says explosive plot most ‘severe threat’ ever faced by Jewish community in Australia
There’s more reaction to the big story of yesterday and today – the discovery of a caravan full of explosives on the outskirts of Sydney and its potential link to an antisemitic attack.
In a statement last night, the Zionist Federation of Australia said the discovery amounted to the most “severe threat” ever faced by the Jewish community in Australia and that the plot, if carried out, “would likely have resulted in the worst terrorist attack on Australian soil”:
For 16 months, the Jewish community has been warning that unchecked incitement, violent rhetoric, and weak leadership have created the perfect environment for extremism and terrorism to flourish. This foiled attack is yet another manifestation of the senseless hatred and violence that continues to target our community.
NSW Premier Chris Minns rightly pointed to the root cause: a hate-filled ideology driven by people who seek to spread division and fear. This is not just a threat to Jewish Australians, it is a threat to our shared values, our safety, and our way of life.
It is long past time for leaders at every level to take decisive action against those who incite hatred, glorify terrorism, and create the conditions for such atrocities to be planned.
The Jewish community will not be intimidated. We will continue to stand strong, proud, and united, and we expect those in positions of power to ensure that threats against our community are met with zero tolerance.
Liberal MP Julian Leeser leads condemnation of explosives ‘plot’
Jordyn Beazley
Liberal MP Julian Leeser has called on Australians to “stand together” after the discovery of an apparent antisemitic bomb plot and to unite “in our abhorrence of those who seek to perpetrate such hatred”.
Leeser, who is Jewish, said he was “deeply disturbed” by news that a caravan was found on the outskirts of Sydney laden with explosives with indications it would be used in an antisemitic attack.
The announcement by police yesterday of the discovery of the caravan comes amid a rise of antisemitic attacks in Australia after the Hamas terror attack on Israel on 7 October 2023 led to an invasion of Gaza by Israel’s military.
Last week, the prime minister, Anthony Albanese, said police believed foreign actors could be paying local criminals to carry out antisemitic attacks in Australia.
Leeser, who is the federal member for Berowra – which takes in Dural where the caravan was found on a residential property – said last night:
I am deeply disturbed at today’s revelations about a potential terror plot targeting the Jewish community with a potential mass casualty event.
This is another sad reminder of the hatreds Jewish Australians have endured over recent times. It keeps escalating. But equally it stands as a stark contrast to the goodness, decency and stoicism of Jewish Australians.
To all Australians I say, if you have a Jewish friend or colleague please reach out to them and let them know you support them and stand with them.
It’s a time when we must stand together as Australians – united in our abhorrence of those who seek to perpetrate such hatred.”
Leeser also thanked police and security services for their work and said that police have requested assistance from anyone who saw the caravan parked in a hazardous position in Dural between 7 December and 19 January.
More on this story here:
Welcome
Good morning and welcome to our live news blog. I’m Martin Farrer with the top overnight stories before Rafqa Touma takes the controls.
More than 100 counter-terrorism police will be continuing their investigation today into who was behind the stockpiling of explosives in a caravan on the outskirts of Sydney with indications the materials could have been used in an antisemitic attack. The NSW premier, Chris Minns, promised to bring the “full force of the law” against those responsible, while Jewish groups condemned the apparent plot as the “most severe threat” yet to their community. We have reaction coming up, including from Liberal MP Julian Leeser who said he was “deeply disturbed”.
The environment minister, Tanya Plibersek, heralded a deal brokered with the Greens and independent David Pocock to create a federal environment protection agency as “critical” before it was scuttled by Anthony Albanese, new documents show.
Yesterday’s inflation figures offered Labor hope that prices – and interest rates – will be falling by the time of the election. On the face of it, it looked like good news for Anthony Albanese’s government but our senior business reporter reminds us that it’s only the pace of increase that is slowing and that the cost of most consumer staples remains much higher than they were when Labor won power back in 2022. Inflation is also the subject of today’s Full Story podcast. Coming up.
