A senior Labor minister has slammed Peter Dutton for ‘playing politics’ by demanding Anthony Albanese reveal what he knew about a foiled terror plot.
Mr Dutton has relentlessly pursued the Prime Minister over what he knew and when since it was revealed a caravan was found laden with explosives in a suspected terror plot against Sydney’s Jewish community.
Mr Albanese became agitated when asked about the public being kept in the dark about the alleged plot, saying ‘What’s correct protocol is making sure that we don’t speak about operational matters’.
On Sunday, Social Services Minister Amanda Rishworth reiterated that point, saying the Opposition leader ‘should be condemned’ for politicising the issue – which has seen more cars and buildings spray-painted with anti-Jewish slogans overnight.
‘I think this is a ridiculous criticism from Peter Dutton, and just shows that all he wants to do is play politics with what is a really serious issue,’ she told Sky News.
‘It is unacceptable that there are people of Jewish faith feeling unsafe in this country, but for the government, it is about being responsible and making sure people are actually safe, not playing politics.’
Speaking on ABC’s Insiders on Sunday morning, Mr Dutton continued his spray, saying Mr Albanese had to be transparent over issues of national security.
‘I don’t think there’s been a true and honest account of what’s happened here,’ he told the program.
A senior Labor minister has slammed Peter Dutton for ‘playing politics’ by demanding Anthony Albanese (pictured) reveal when he was briefed about a foiled terror plot
More cars and buildings spray-painted with anti-Jewish slogans (pictured) overnight
‘But if the Prime Minister of our country is not across what was potentially the biggest terrorist attack in our country’s history, essentially until the public found out about it, I think that is an absolute abrogation of his responsibility.’
Ms Rishworth added that: ‘Ensuring police and agencies, security agencies can do their job and keep the community safe should be, in my view, the number one outcome we all want to see’.
Mr Dutton said there should be an independent assessment of what happened after the caravan was found in the north-west Sydney suburb of Dural.
The existence of the investigation was not revealed to the public until last Wednesday after a leak to the media – 10 days after the caravan was reported to police.
NSW Premier Chris Minns was briefed about the find on January 20, the day after the caravan, which contained the address of a Sydney synagogue, was found.
The incident was not disclosed at the national cabinet meeting held after the fire bombing of the Adass Israel Synagogue in Melbourne on January 21.
Mr Albanese has refused to disclose when he was told of the police investigations, saying ‘This should not be the source of political debate’.
‘The idea that you make public pronouncements about something that is an ongoing investigation is, of course, entirely inappropriate because as the police have made very clear, both state and federal, the priority is those ongoing investigations,’ he said.
Peter Dutton said Mr Albanese had to be transparent about issues of national security
NSW Premier Chris Minns was briefed about the find on January 20, the day after the caravan, which contained the address of a Sydney synagogue, was found.
The incident was not disclosed at the national cabinet meeting held after the fire bombing of the Adass Israel Synagogue in Melbourne on January 21.
Mr Albanese has refused to disclose when he was told of the police investigations, saying ‘This should not be the source of political debate’.
‘The idea that you make public pronouncements about something that is an ongoing investigation is, of course, entirely inappropriate because as the police have made very clear, both state and federal, the priority is those ongoing investigations.’
But Jane Hume, the Shadow Minister for Finance, said Mr Albanese silence was risked the Jewish community’s confidence in the government.
‘Peter Dutton’s call for an independent investigation into how this information was shared and with whom it was shared is a sensible idea,’ she told Sky News.
‘We have to be able to give Australians, and it’s particularly Jewish Australians, confidence that our Prime Minister is, in fact, on top of his national security responsibilities.’
It comes as more cars and buildings in Sydney were spray-painted overnight with anti-Jewish slogans as the Government and the Opposition remain at odds over how to tackle rising community fear.
Police are investigating the ‘offensive graffiti’ in Sydney’s eastern suburbs, which included cars having ‘f*** Jews’ sprayed on them.
Previous attacks have included the firebombing of a synagogue and several cars being set on fire.
Those car were also graffitied with the Nazi swastika and anti-Semitic language.
Pro-Palestine rallies are planned for Melbourne and Sydney on Sunday.
