The national security agency has announced there have been nine “attacks, disruptions, or suspected terrorist incidents” this year.
In an update this week, the Australian Security Intelligence Organisation (ASIO) said it had not linked any recent threats to wars in the Middle East.
ASIO raised Australia’s terror threat level from “possible” to “probable” due to a “concerning increase in politically motivated violence,” earlier this year.
ASIO chief Mike Burgess said he believes there’s more than a 50% chance of a domestic terrorist attack being planned or carried out in the next year.
ASIO
Each year, heads of Federal Government departments front a panel of Senators to explain how they are spending the money they are allocated through the Budget.
On Monday, ASIO chief Mike Burgess told Senators the agency is currently focused on politically and religiously-motivated violence.
He noted an upward trend in “political polarisation and intolerance, uncivil debate, and unpeaceful protest” that was “accelerated” by the pandemic.
Terror incidents
ASIO Director-General Mike Burgess said there had been nine “attacks, disruptions or suspected terrorist incidents” this year. Three involved “religiously motivated violent extremism.”
None of the incidents were “directly inspired” by conflicts in the Middle East.
“Few of the alleged perpetrators were previously known to ASIO or police, and of those who moved to violence, the majority gave little or no warning,” Burgess said. He also said ASIO’s work had become “more difficult and demanding” than in the past.
