Will Parramatta terrorist attack be the last wake-up call for our authorities?

After the last December’s terrorist attack, I warned that authorities’ lack of detailed and comprehensive plan to tackle radicalisation will lead to other terrorist activities. Last night’s terrorist attack is just the tip of the iceberg and if the authorities don’t wake up this time we could be heading to bigger attacks in the near future.

In the last year, we heard a lot of noise, but saw no action. Authorities made a few arrests; many of the arrested walked free thanks to the leniency of magistrates who perhaps feared of being accused of Islamophobia. Or perhaps were under the misconception that the authorities made up stories about imaginary radicalisation. Whatever the reason for this leniency, the results are quiet clear with this last attack.

The tragic terrorist attack occurred last night, should finally induce our authorities into seriously implementing an aggressive and comprehensive de-radicalisation plan..

After the terrorist attack last night, we need to ask authorities: what did you achieve in the last 12 months of consultations and tough talks on radicals?

The plain answer would be: not much.

The government recently announced that the Australian participation in terrorist groups activities in Syria and Iraq was doubled in the last 12 months. The numbers of radicals in Australia are increasing on a daily basis. Not one extremist centre has been closed down or targeted by security agencies. No “big-fish” was caught and convicted. No ease of funding from extremists in Saudi Arabia and other gulf states.

So far our authorities have been tip toeing around extremist leaders for fear of being seen as targeting a minority. We have witnessed leaders of extreme Islamic centres attacking our authorities crying out that their freedoms were unjustly targeted.

We even witnessed government funding for some extremist groups in the name of fighting radicalisation. We witnessed extremists awarded medals and other awards. But we never witnessed a hard crack down on real extremists.

The results are speaking for themselves. When Russian army started a serious campaign to liquidate terrorists in Syria and Iraq, we witnessed our authorities siding with terrorists in the name of “we should not save Syrian regime from collapse”. Such move has sent the wrong message in all directions.

Now, and before it is too late, authorities need to start a serious crack down.

Our authorities need to investigate all extremists, even if they are “high-profile” ones who have some followers. Some organisations need to be raided and investigated. Old files on extremists should be opened to be used to close mosques and religious centres of hate. All these mosques and centres had advocated their followers to fight in Syria and to hate Shia and Alawi at some stage in the last decade.

I want to warn that failure of the authorities to use the sad tragic terrorist attack yesterday as starting point to seriously crack down on real perpetrators, would be fatal mistake or an opportunity lost.

The lone wolf who killed an innocent person yesterday before being killed is not the real perpetrator. We believe that the propaganda machine behind his brainwashing and radicalisation is the real perpetrators who need to be brought to justice. Targeting a few simple brainwashed youths by sending them to jail or killing them will not solve the problem. Authorities need to break the network of brainwashing, recruitment and funding.

Authorities need to put a stop to all funding from Saudi Arabia and other gulf countries. The majority of the brainwashing occurs in mosques, religious centres and Islamic schools which are built and funded by Saudi money.
This needs to be regulated and stopped if we really want to stop radicalisation in this country.

Locking up or even killing vulnerable young people, who are victims themselves by brainwashing, will not resolve nor will stop future attacks.