Tony Abbott to launch new strategy

to counter 'long-term era of

terrorism'
Prime minister will use a speech to parliament on Monday to outline the plans,
which include the appointment of a new counter-terrorism coordinator

Tony Abbott: Thousands of young and vulnerable people in the community are susceptible to radicalisation.
Photograph: Mick Tsikas/AAP

Shalailah Medhora
Monday 23 February 2015 00.00 AEDT
Last modified on Monday 23 February 2015 08.52 AEDT

The Australian government will create a national strategy to beat violent

extremism and appoint a counter-terrorism coordinator to tackle what the prime
minister, Tony Abbott, calls a new, long-term era of heightened terrorism.
He has also flagged an overhaul of the public alert system. The national terror
threat has been on high since September last year
Abbott will on Monday deliver an address to parliament on national security,
focusing on the recommendations of a review announced last year into
Australias counter-terrorism capability.
The review found that Australia has entered a new, long-term era of heightened
terrorism threat, with a much more significant home-grown element, Abbott will
say. It assesses that the terrorist threat in Australia is rising. On all metrics, the
threat to Australia is worsening.
The number of foreign fighters is increasing, the number of known sympathisers
and supporters of extremists is increasing, and the number of potential terrorists,
including many who live in our midst, is rising as well, the address will continue.
Thousands of young and vulnerable people in the community are susceptible to
radicalisation. Terrorists are becoming more adept at evading surveillance.
About 90 Australians have travelled to Syria and Iraq to join extremist groups,
with 30 having already returned to Australia.

Abbott will announce the appointment of a new national counter-terrorism

coordinator and the creation of a national anti-extremism strategy to better
coordinate our efforts to counteract the threats we face including from home
grown lone actors and radicalisation in our community.
We have very generous systems in Australia, we have very generous
interpretations of peoples motives. We need to make sure that in a new climate,
a new climate thats changed significantly in the past year, a security climate
thats deteriorated that we have system as robust as they possibly can be in
assessing the system. We need to make sure that we doing everything question
to protect community safety, justice minister Michael Keenan told ABC radio on
Monday morning.
I think Australians understand that if you are going to increase the security
environment then that can sometimes impinge on their individual freedoms. It
can create greater inconvenience. The but the environment has change and we
need to respond appropriately and do that by making sure community safety is
paramount, Keenan said.
The public alert system for terrorist warnings will be simplified, Abbott said.
The government will develop a new system to provide more helpful information
to Australians about what the threat actually is and what precautions people
might take.
The address comes a day after the release of the report into the Sydney siege,
which Abbott said showed that the system had let down the community by
failing to prevent the fatal incident.
He flagged a redrawing of the line between liberty and security in order to
protect Australian lives.
We need to re-examine the system and ask ourselves at what stage do we need
to change the tipping point from protection of the individual to the safety of the
community and thats exactly what were doing, Abbott told reporters on
Sunday.
The prime minister signalled he would toughen immigration procedures, after the
siege report revealed that security agencies had raised red flags over gunman
Man Haron Monis shortly after he sought asylum in Australia.
Abbott said checks and scrutiny would need to be applied to the granting of visas
and citizenship.
We reach out and embrace people but we cant endlessly tolerate people who
have a lend of us, Abbott said.
Opposition leader Bill Shorten on Sunday said that the government must get the
balance right between protecting society and protecting the rights of the
individual.