The alleged emergence of a home-grown terrorist threat was a chilling development that dispelled any lingering misconception Australia was immune to attack, newspapers said on Wednesday.
”Osama’s Aussie offspring” declared The Australian following Tuesday’s raids in Sydney and Melbourne said by police to have foiled a large-scale attack inspired by a radical Muslim cleric.
The Daily Telegraph headline read ”Holy War on Australia”.
The Australian said the fact that all of the 17 men arrested in the raids were either Australian born or Australian citizens was cause for concern.
”As with Britain following the London suicide attacks in July, we must face the possibility that some young Australians have turned against us all,” it said.
The Sydney Morning Herald said the alleged bombing plot confirmed Australia’s involvement in the so-called ”war on terrorism” had reached a new stage.
”A threshold in Australia’s historical experience has been crossed,” it said.
The Townsville Bulletin said Australians were shocked that potential terrorists were living and working alongside them, while the Financial Review concluded ”no one will now be able to deny that the nightmare of home-grown terrorism has arrived in Australia”.
However, opinions were divided on how the threat should be dealt with.
Some newspapers supported the conservative government’s push to give police and intelligence services draconian new powers, while others said the effectiveness of Tuesday’s operation showed existing laws were adequate.
The Australian criticised the dramatic manner in which Prime Minister John Howard revealed he had received intelligence of a potential terrorist threat last week, but said subsequent events showed it was ”ineffably silly” to accuse him of making the announcement as a political stunt.
It said police must be given powers commensurate with the threat posed by terrorists.
However, the Age newspaper said Howard had failed to demonstrate why new powers were needed.
”Proposed laws on sedition, preventative detention and control orders, backed by extraordinary secrecy provisions, would overturn principals that are part of the foundations of our democracy,” it said.
It pointed out that if the laws were in place this week, then the raids could not have been reported.
The Sydney Morning Herald said the way the arrests were stage-managed was worrying, with some media outlets tipped off about the operation in a move the newspaper said angered Muslim leaders and could jeopardise future trials.
”It is an extraordinary context in which to conduct a security debate,” the newspaper said, calling for the government to justify curtailing civil liberties.
The Daily Telegraph said the raids were a wake-up call, arguing ”sensible Australians will welcome the extension to the legal framework that these new laws provide”. – AFP
