PM calls potential mass-casualty event an act of terrorism ‘designed to create fear in community’
The prime minister, Anthony Albanese, says the caravan laden with explosives found in Sydney is terrorism, he told ABC Radio Sydney a short while ago.
Host Craig Reucassel pointed to a quote from the NSW premier, Chris Minns, saying yesterday “there’s only one way of calling it out and that is terrorism”.
He asked Albanese: “Do you classify this as terrorism as well, Prime Minister?”
Albanese responded:
I certainly do. I agree with Chris Minns. It’s clearly designed to harm people, but it’s also designed to create fear in the community. And that is the very definition.
As it comes in, it hasn’t been designated yet by the NSW Police, but certainly is being investigated, including by the Joint Counter Terrorism Team.
Key events
Jordyn Beazley
Maroubra school targeted in antisemitic graffiti attack
Another Jewish site has been hit with antisemitic graffiti overnight – this time a school which is located just a few hundred metres from the childcare centre that was recently attacked in Sydney’s east.
Mount Sinai College in Maroubra and a nearby home were both spray painted with antisemitic slurs that included calling Jewish people “dogs” and the “real terrorists”.
It comes after the police last night revealed that a caravan laden with explosives was found on a road on the outskirts of Sydney with indications the explosives would be used in an antisemitic attack.
A parent who has two children that attend Mount Sinai College told Guardian Australia that waking up to another vandalism incident so close to her home has left her feeling exhausted. One of her children returns to school tomorrow after school holidays and the other attends the college for daycare.
She said she will still take her daughter to daycare today because she doesn’t want to let the vandals intimidate her. She added:
I’m just tired, I just want it to stop. I am sick of waking up to find out something else has happened.
It’s just the scum of society trying to intimidate us, and it’s not going to work.
This cannot be deemed as normal. It may happen every other day but hate graffiti cannot be glossed over as another hate crime.
I honestly believe the average Australian thinks this is deplorable and the messages of support from colleagues and friends are heartwarming. And we know we have the police and government working tirelessly but we just need everyone to realise that we need their support in calling any racist or antisemitic behaviour out. This will only stop if we work together to stomp it out.
PM calls potential mass-casualty event an act of terrorism ‘designed to create fear in community’
The prime minister, Anthony Albanese, says the caravan laden with explosives found in Sydney is terrorism, he told ABC Radio Sydney a short while ago.
Host Craig Reucassel pointed to a quote from the NSW premier, Chris Minns, saying yesterday “there’s only one way of calling it out and that is terrorism”.
He asked Albanese: “Do you classify this as terrorism as well, Prime Minister?”
Albanese responded:
I certainly do. I agree with Chris Minns. It’s clearly designed to harm people, but it’s also designed to create fear in the community. And that is the very definition.
As it comes in, it hasn’t been designated yet by the NSW Police, but certainly is being investigated, including by the Joint Counter Terrorism Team.
Minns says explosives investigation needed to take place ‘away from the media spotlight’
Asked why the public did not learn of the caravan laden with explosives found in Dural until several days later, the premier, Chris Minns, told ABC News Breakfast “sometimes, experienced police officers … need to conduct their inquiries away from the media spotlight”:
We would release all of the information we possibly could as early as possible unless it compromised the police inquiry. That has to be the No 1 priority of New South Wales police and the government.
At some points during these complicated investigations police need to work in a clandestine way, using methods and tactics they don’t speak about publicly, so criminals don’t know what police are getting up when they launch these investigations.
I don’t want the public to believe that over the last 10 days police were twiddling their thumbs. The exact opposite was the case in New South Wales … If the public believe that police or the government will issue a media release when they begin a counter-terrorism investigation, that is not going to happen.
Sometimes, experienced police officers … need to conduct their inquiries away from the media spotlight, and I back their judgment in relation to this 100%.
Minns says graffiti attack on Mount Sinai college ‘another naked example of racism’
Looping back to the NSW premier, Chris Minns, on ABC News Breakfast a short while ago. He said a graffiti incident on a Maroubra school is “another naked example of racism in our community, completely antithetical what Australia represents in 2025”.
He said:
I’m appalled by it, but I do want to say two things. Firstly, we will throw all our resources in tracking down people responsible for malicious damage, for hate crimes. And secondly – the vast, vast majority of Australians stand united against this appalling behaviour and condemn it completely.
NSW deputy police commissioner David Hudson said overnight Mount Sinai college in Maroubra had been targeted with graffiti, which was being investigated by police.
Caitlin Cassidy
NSW police confirm caravan had written notes with ‘Jewish entities’ written on them
Hudson confirmed the caravan contained explosives but also written notes with “Jewish entities” nominated on them which caused NSW police to put the incident “in the terrorism space”.
He said the incident “has the potential” to be a terrorist attack because of the significant harm it could cause “if the worst happened”, but hadn’t been declared a formal terrorist investigation, adding it was likely there had been a “level of coordination” domestically.
It was “one of the lines of inquiry” whether the explosives had been obtained from a nearby mine site.
The multi-jurisdictional investigation is being led by NSW police with the assistance of the AFP, Asio and NSW Crime Commission, Hudson confirmed.
Hudson also confirmed overnight Mount Sinai college in Maroubra had been targeted with graffiti overnight which was being investigated by police.
Caitlin Cassidy
State police deputy defends decision to keep discovery of caravan explosives from public
The NSW deputy police commissioner has defended the body’s decision to keep the discovery of the caravan and explosives from the public.
David Hudson told ABC radio “the more clean air we get to investigate these matters the better we will be”.
Speaking this morning, he said it was “normal” if a current and covert investigation was going ahead to keep it from the public, including in the counter-terrorism space.
“We mitigate [the] threat related to a terrorism investigation … and then announce what we’ve done … it’s important we take these types of incidents very seriously, so we’re doing that.”
Hudson said there had been consistent “interaction” between police and Jewish bodies.
“We have consistently informed them and vice versa of the current threat environment … we didn’t directly tell them about the explosives in the caravan because threats were appropriately mitigated at that stage to our satisfaction … obviously that all changed yesterday.”
Owner of van laden with explosives in custody, premier says
The NSW premier, Chris Minns, is now speaking on ABC News Breakfast. He says the investigation into the caravan laden with explosives found in Sydney is “the No 1 priority of NSW police”:
I mean, the counter-terrorism command for New South Wales police are responsible for [the investigation]. They’re working with their counterparts federally. You are talking about scores of officers with responsibility for this.
It is the No 1 priority of New South Wales police. We recognise that this is a significant escalation and would worry many members of the community.
Minns confirmed “the owner of the van is in police custody as well and inquiries continue”.
Nothing will stop until New South Wales police have arrested those who are responsible for this. It’s a very disturbing set of events.
Treasurer says Labor knows cost-of-living pressures have ‘not disappeared’
Jim Chalmers says “we know that cost-of-living pressures” have “not disappeared, but they are easing”. He tells ABC News Breakfast:
We know that people are still under substantial pressure in their household budgets and we know that even when these national economic numbers get better and better, we know that that doesn’t always automatically translate into how people are feeling and faring in the economy.
That’s why we’re not getting carried away by it. We know cost-of-living pressures have not disappeared but they have eased substantially and that’s a good thing.
Chalmers says Australia is making ‘established progress in the fight against inflation’
The treasurer has moved on to discuss inflation figures. He tells ABC News Breakfast:
Those inflation figures that we got this week were very encouraging because what they showed is that inflation has come down by more than was expected and more than what was forecast. We’re making really substantial and now quite established progress in the fight against inflation across all of the fronts that we measure.
Headline inflation was in the lower half of the Reserve Bank’s target band. Underlying inflation came down as well and that all augurs well for the progress we’re making together as Australians.
What we’ve been able to do collectively is something other countries have not been able to do. We’ve got inflation down. We’ve got wages up. And we’ve kept up employment low at the same time.
Now, most of the major advanced economies have higher inflation than us. In the US, it’s not just higher, it’s rising and what that shows is that Australians are making some really quite encouraging progress together.
Chalmers says ‘if more can be done’ to combat antisemitism ‘we’ll consider that’
Chalmers says “if there are additional steps that need to be taken” to ensure the Jewish community feels safe “we’ll take them”. He told ABC News Breakfast:
We’ve seen a willingness to do that in the way that we’re already working with police and authorities and states and territories, the extra resources, the special operations that have been set up, all of that is about doing as much as we can. If more can be done, of course we’ll consider that.
When it comes to the planning and scheduling of National Cabinet, again that is in the hands of the Prime Minister and the premiers and I’ll leave you to them on that front.