The current national terrorism threat level indicator on the Australian National Security website reads, ‘Credible intelligence, assessed by our security agencies, indicates that individuals or groups have the intent and capability to conduct a terrorist attack in Australia.’ Universally, threat is a combination of three elements – hostile intent, capability and opportunity – also called the threat triangle. In this regard, if we are to go by the National Security’s threat assessment, then Australia is just an opportunity away from a terrorist attack. Yet, after the recent Buffalo supermarket shooting in the United States, the Australian government has quietly dissolved the anti-terrorism taskforce.
The taskforce was set up following the Christchurch terror attack in 2019, and was made up of Australian security agencies, internet service providers and social media companies to help monitor and counter online extremism from far right and white supremacy groups in Australia.
Far right extremism is not only a security issue, but also a threat to social cohesion. In Australia, far right online communities are more likely to explicitly call for violence and harassment especially against marginalised communities. There is evidence that Australian society has become more accepting of extreme viewpoints in social and political discourse. Additionally, the threat of a violent extremist event in Australia has increased. Yet, it is still undisclosed and unclear what led to the winding up of such an important taskforce, exclusively dedicated to monitoring and countering extremism online. The taskforce made some recommendations to the government in June 2019 on proactively removing terrorism-related and violent material online. Yet in May 2021, it was disbanded, shifting its responsibilities to the eSafety commissioner and the Department of Home Affairs, both of which already have a lot on their plate, and which is akin to deprioritising an issue of major public concern.
The change was not announced to the public, and the broader debate remains alarmingly missing from mainstream media, raising the question of whether Australia is truly prepared for a large-scale ideologically motivated attack? We do consider ourselves a safe country, and rightly so, but in the light of how sophisticated extremist groups have become in crafting their narrative online, and the vigorous growth of digital platforms, trivialising the possibility of an incident is risky and dismissive.
Ayesha Jehangir, CMT Research Fellow