Asio 'actively considering' raising Australia's terror threat level to high

http://www.theguardian.com/world/2014/sep/09/asio-may-raise-australia-terror-threat-level

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Australia’s top spy has signalled he is “actively considering” lifting Australia’s current terror alert level due to increased concerns about domestic national security risks posed by homegrown militants.

David Irvine told the ABC on Tuesday night that the current terror warning sat at a “very elevated level of medium” but the Australian Security and Intelligence Organisation (Asio) was considering lifting it above that level.

“I would say that at the moment it is at a very elevated level of medium and I’m certainly contemplating very seriously the notion of lifting it higher because of the numbers of people that we are now having to be concerned about in Australia, because of the influence of Syria and Iraq on young Australians – both in terms of going to those places to fight, but also in terms of what they are doing here in Australia, with a potential intent to attack,” the Asio chief said Tuesday night.

Asked whether the threat level would be changed in the coming days, ahead of his planned retirement at the end of this week, Irvine said: “It’s something that we in Asio are actively considering.”

Irvine said the domestic threat had been building in Australia, “certainly over the last year or so”. He said recent events in the Middle East had made him more concerned about domestic national security threats. Irvine noted that Australia had been “lucky” to avoid a terrorist incident on our soil.

The British government recently adjusted its terrorism threat level from “substantial” to “severe” in recognition of the risks posed by radicalised individuals and returning fighters from the sectarian conflicts in Syria and Iraq.

At the time of the UK adjustment, the Abbott government said it remained in close contact with overseas allies about the terrorism threat. The attorney general George Brandis said the Australian designation of “medium” indicated that a domestic terror attack could occur.

“This level is under constant review by the Australian government and is based on advice from security and intelligence agencies,” Brandis said on 30 August. “Australia’s threat level would be increased to ‘high’ if it were deemed that a terrorist attack is likely to occur.”

In an interview Tuesday night on the ABC’s 7.30, Irvine declined to say precisely how many Australians had returned home from overseas conflicts. He indicated only the number was “more than 20”.

The Asio chief continued to play down the risks that Australia’s likely military involvement in Iraq would increase the risk of a terrorism incident at home.

Irvine noted that this was “a popular line that you hear” but he argued Australia was already a terror target.

The government has been telegraphing for some time its intention to bring forward legislation that will make it easier to prosecute foreign fighters participating in overseas conflicts. That legislation has not yet been produced. It is expected to be introduced to parliament when it sits later this month, in the week beginning 22 September.