Name: Anne Aly calls for action on Australian far-right extremism
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Anne Aly calls for action on Australian far-right extremism

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‘We are way behind’: Labor MP calls for action on far-right extremism in AustraliaWe’re sorry, this feature is currently unavailable. We’re working to restore it. Please try again later.DismisscloseAdvertisementBy Log in, or to save articles for later.Normal text sizeLarger text sizeVery large text sizeAdvertisementFederal West Australian Labor MP Anne Aly warns the likelihood of a local terror attack carried out by a far-right extremist is a matter of “when, not if”.The counter-terrorism academic and parliamentary intelligence and security committee member also said Australia was trailing its Five Eyes partners in classifying fringe far right-wing groups as terrorist organisations.She believed there would be an acceleration of extremist ideology-fed conspiracies around world events such as COVID-19 and the Black Lives Matter movements that would lead to far-right groups becoming more prolific and violent.“[Social movements and conspiracies] spark a reaction from these groups, so I think we’re going to brace ourselves for more,” Dr Aly said.“The fact is that far-right extremism has been growing at really huge rates over the last two decades, to the point where in the US it’s surpassed Islamic violence or Islamic terrorism in terms of domestic terrorist activity. It was bound to happen here as well.“Hate crimes ... I think they will escalate. It is a matter of when, not if.” including one Perth man who ran as a One Nation candidate in the federal seat of O’Conner in the 2019 election.Dr Aly, who was awarded the McKinnon Prize in Emerging Political Leadership last week, said most modern terrorists were loners and disorganised, but The Base tapes showed they were attempting to become more structured.AdvertisementIt is a view shared with ASIO, which told a parliamentary inquiry into extremist movements and radicalism in Australia “extreme right-wing groups are more organised, sophisticated and security-conscious than before”.There are currently 26 listed terrorist organisations by the Australian Government, only one of those – the Sonnenkrieg Division – is a far-right extremist group.Canada recently listed The Base as a terrorist group and several of its members have been arrested in the US on a range of charges including conspiracy to murder.Dr Aly said security agencies spent about 40 per cent of their time on far-right groups so there was a need to hasten listing them as terrorist organisations to send a message.“I think that we are way behind our Five Eyes partners in listing domestic, far right, terrorist organisations,” she said.“What we’re dealing with here is human behaviour. So the first thing that we need to do is list them because it sends out a clear message of the standards that we do and don’t accept in this country.”Dr Aly said the earlier authorities were able to intervene, the better chance they had at diverting young Australians from extremist paths.“Once somebody makes up their mind that they’re going to be operative, it’s very hard to bring them back from the brink, the only thing that you can do is arrest them and remove the opportunity from them,” she said.“But in the very early stages, it’s very possible to present people with a counter to the stuff that they’re hearing.”A spokeswoman for the Department of Home Affairs, the lead agency for the terrorism list said terrorist organisation listings were kept under constant review by Australian Government agencies.“Given the serious implications of listing a group as a terrorist organisation, processes for determining whether to list a group as a terrorist organisation are robust,” she said.“A decision to list a group as a terrorist organisation is made following consultation across and between Australian and state and territory governments and based on legal advice that statutory thresholds for listing have been met.”The spokeswoman said it was a longstanding policy to not comment on whether specific groups have been, or are being considered for listing.“Where not already listed, a court may find an organisation to be a terrorist organisation during a prosecution for a terrorist organisation offence,” she said.Our Morning Edition newsletter is a curated guide to the most important and interesting stories, analysis and insights. Sign up to The Sydney Morning Herald’s newsletter , The Age’s , Brisbane Times’ , and WAtoday’s .Log in, or to save articles for later. is WAtoday's state political reporter.Advertisement

‘We are way behind’: Labor MP calls for action on far-right extremism in AustraliaWe’re sorry, this feature is currently unavailable. We’re working to restore it. Please try again later.DismisscloseAdvertisementBy Log in, or to save articles for later.Normal text sizeLarger text sizeVery large text sizeAdvertisementFederal West Australian Labor MP Anne Aly warns the likelihood of a local terror attack carried out by a far-right extremist is a matter of “when, not if”.The counter-terrorism academic and parliamentary intelligence and security committee member also said Australia was trailing...

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Anne Aly calls for action on Australian far-right extremism

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