Time to save the Lucky Country
AUSTRALIA is at war.
Not the kind of war where the enemy is identified by a uniform and fought on foreign shores but a war which has found its way onto home soil.
I’m talking, of course, about terrorism, the wanton butchery, the maiming and murder of innocent people carried out by radical Islamic misfits living in this country, my country.
The same war which threatens the freedom and way of life we have taken for granted for far too long.
Who would have thought the Lucky Country, this land which has always welcomed strangers wanting to start a new life, might one day become a battleground for those who would only wish to do us harm.
The latest arrests of three Australian-born men of Turkish descent on terrorism-related charges came on the heels of Shire Ali’s deadly Bourke St terrorist attack and have added to the growing list of those already seduced by this sick ideology.
Some might say I’m scaremongering. Well, so be it. It’s time we woke up. Australia has been complacent for far too long and now she is paying the price.
Political correctness, the fear of being labelled racist, accusations of persecuting minorities simply because some may be offended by the truth, have all played a part in Australia losing her nerve and shutting her mouth when she should have spoken out — and spoken out loudly.
Never in my lifetime has there been a greater urgency for the Australian Government to step up to the plate, show strength and make the tough decisions needed to protect this country, her people and way of life.
Reports show that since 2012, about 240 Australian passports have been cancelled or refused in relation to continuing conflicts in Iraq and Syria, which means most of those people remain in our midst, albeit being monitored by federal agencies.
According to Assistant Commissioner Ross Guenther, head of Victoria’s counter-terrorism command, the process of cancelling passports of would-be terrorists is not working.
When people are prevented from travelling or it’s difficult to get to the conflict zone, then often the view will be, “I’ll change tactic and commit an act in the country in which I live”, he said.
So the question is, if the head of counter-terrorism can see this, surely the Australian Government should be taking steps to change tactics and up the ante.
No one can deny counter terrorism and special operations officers are doing an incredible job, but all too often it is our uniformed police, inadequately trained and ill-equipped, who are likely to be first on scene at a terrorist attack. So where do we begin? For a start all police should undergo additional specialised training and be armed with tazers so they are at least halfway prepared for any terrorist threat. (Apparently not all Victoria Police are equipped with tazers).
Passports of would-be terrorists should only be cancelled once they leave this country and once gone, banned from ever returning, irrespective of nationality.
Greater power should be given to federal agencies and police to examine all encrypted messages. Breach of privacy you say? Get over it. Nothing is more important than a country’s national security and the safety of its people.
Those convicted of acts of terrorism should face a mandatory life sentence, never to be released.
And the leaders of moderate Islamic communities throughout Australia should also accept their responsibility to call out radicalism wherever they suspect it.
Forget the old persecution complex, which they seem to flip out whenever it suits.
I would say that if you want to live in a free and democratic society, then as a leader in your community, you have a greater obligation than most to do your bit to help preserve it.
Finally, if we are to win this war on terrorism then we must all be united in our stand against it, in particular politicians from opposing sides who spend far too much time poking jibes at each other than getting on with the real job of governing this country.
As a nation, we are going to have to become smarter, stronger, tougher, less complacent and certainly less forgiving.
More importantly we are going to have get a backbone.
And all of that must start in Canberra.