Australia 'facing terror attack threat'
The Australian government warned today that international terrorists were considering attacking the nation, and that there would be no early end to the global war on terror.
The warning comes ahead of elections later this year. Polls show voters believe prime minister John Howard’s conservative administration is tougher on national security than the opposition Labour Party.
“We know the terrorist threat to our nation is now higher than it has ever been,” a government statement said. “We know that some transnational extremist-Muslim terrorists have shown interest in conducting attacks in Australia.
“There will be no early, decisive defeat of this threat.”
Australia has never suffered a major terrorist attack.
Howard was elected for a third term in office shortly after the September 11, 2001 attacks in the US on a platform that included a strong national security commitment.
While Australia will continue contributing to international efforts to keep Iraq from becoming a crime and terror haven, the statement also warned of closer risks – including extremists in south-east Asia, and the possibility of terrorists setting up bases in impoverished, corrupt South Pacific nations.
“Stronger measures are required in the case of failed or failing states,” the statement said. “They are vulnerable to exploitation by terrorists.”
Canberra has recently pumped millions of dollars into south Pacific nations to bolster their crumbling economies, clamp down on corruption and shore up security.
The statement issued by foreign minister Alexander Downer said Australia must do more to keep terrorists from setting up bases in the region and using lax financial systems to launder money.
The threat to Australian interests was greater overseas than at home, but the country itself is also a potential terrorist target, the statement said.
The October 12, 2002, terrorist bombings on Indonesia’s Bali island killed 202 people, 88 of them Australians.
Earlier this year, a British-born Muslim convert was convicted for his role in an al-Qaida plot to blow up Israel’s embassy in Australia’s capital, Canberra. The attack was not carried out.
Australia is strengthening its intelligence agencies and honing its security alliance with Washington as part of its counterterrorism strategy.
“But it is in our own region where Australia has its greatest commitment and contribution to make,” the government said, adding that it already has forged counterterrorism intelligence agreements with nine south-east Asian nations.
