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There have been nine terror attacks, disruptions or incidents here in 2024, but no plots have been attributed to events in the Middle East, Australia's spy chief says.
Hamas' against Israel and Israel's subsequent retaliatory measures “raised the temperature of the security environment and made the climate more tolerant to violence, making acts of terror more likely,” said ASIO Director General Mike Burgess.
Religiously motivated violent extremism makes up the majority of ASIO's work, but there is no link between the conflict in the Gaza Strip and terror incidents in Australia, Burgess said.
“To be clear, I am talking about individuals who follow a perverse interpretation of Islam, not people of Islamic faith,” he said.
A third of the nine cases involved religiously motivated violent extremism, while the majority were motivated by or a mix of ideologies.
All involve young people, alone or in small groups and with simple weapons.
People radicalized quickly and without warning, making it harder for the intelligence organization to track them, Burgess said.
The Director General expressed concern over the revival of the capabilities of the terrorist groups Al-Qaeda and the self-proclaimed Islamic State.
People at pro-Palestinian rallies in Australia could indicate a violent ideology, Burgess said.
But “it could just be the actions of a misdirected person who doesn't really know what he's doing,” he said.
“As a security service, I welcome it when individuals raise the flag, so to speak, and indicate that they are someone we should be interested in,” he joked.
“If people are stupid enough to do that… I personally welcome people declaring their hand.”
Someone simply “liking” a provocative social media post or supporting a Palestinian homeland would not automatically result in an unfavorable security rating for those holding or applying for a visa.
But those who support or promote violence or Israel's destruction could pose a direct or indirect security threat, Burgess said.
His comments came after renewed attention focused on securing visas for Palestinians as the coalition insisted people from Gaza could pose a security threat.
Asked whether the federal government should have referred visas to ASIO before they were granted and people arrived in Australia, Burgess said intelligence efforts were ongoing, while visa approval was a static point in time.
“We've seen cases where we've checked and they were fine, and then we learn something that says this is no longer the right decision,” he said.
