TRANSCRIPT
The discovery of a caravan full of explosives has triggered an extensive police response, with fears of the potential for a mass casualty event targeting the Jewish community.
Police are treating the incident as a credible terror threat and have assigned more than 100 counter-terrorism detectives to investigate those behind the plot, which was discovered nearly two weeks ago.
The caravan was found by a resident on 19 January on a semi-rural road in Dural — a suburb about 30 minutes north-west of Sydney's Central Business District, where it had been left abandoned for 12 days.
New South Wales Police commissioner Karen Webb says the arrest is unrelated to the caravan investigation.
She says some of the others taken into custody are allegedly connected to other antisemitic attacks.
"All of these matters are still under investigation. There are many, many more lines of inquiry... It is a joint investigation with our federal counterparts and our state counterparts, including the NSW Crime Commission, ASIO and others. And we will update when we have information to provide the community. But can I just reassure the community: we are doing everything possible. We are not leaving a stone unturned in this matter."
Inside the caravan were powergel explosives — commonly used in the mining industry — that could have created a 40-metre-wide blast, and a note containing the addresses of Jewish people and institutions.
The discovery is being investigated by detectives from New South Wales Police, the Australian Federal Police, the Australian Security Intelligence Organisation, and the New South Wales Crime Commission.
New South Wales Deputy Police Commissioner David Hudson says while the caravan no longer poses a threat, the Jewish community is still being targetted in Sydney.
"The risk has been mitigated to the point that we don't think, obviously, that the caravan and those explosives and that particular individual are a threat to the community. But there are ongoing threats that we've seen overnight. There is still activity in the eastern suburbs targeting Jewish interests that are abhorrent."
The Prime Minister, Anthony Albanese, is describing it as an act of terrorism.
New South Wales Premier Chris Minns says the public should trust that everything is being done to catch those involved.
"This represents undeniably an escalation in race filled hatred and potential violence. In New South Wales, we are very concerned about it. The resources of the Counter-Terrorism Command and New South Wales police are being deployed to catch those who are responsible in a comprehensive police investigation. The public should have every confidence that the largest police force in the country with the most experienced commanders when it comes to counter-terrorism are focused on precisely this issue, and they won't stop until the people who are responsible for it are caught."
Jewish leaders have expressed alarm over the spate of attacks in Australia aimed at their community.
They note cars have been set alight, a synagogue burnt down and antisemitic slurs painted on buildings and cars in a spate of incidents that have escalated in frequency and severity since December.
Israel's Ambassador to Australia Amir Maimon says he remains deeply concerned, despite being assured every measure is being taken to protect the community.
Executive Council of Australian Jewry co-Chief Executive Peter Wertheim [[vuh-TIME]] says they are concerned and angry, describing the attacks as things that bring shame on Australia.
"We are seeing that the Australia that we have been fortunate to live in ourselves - a land of freedom, fair-mindedness, civilised norms of behaviour, and the rule of law - is starting to slip away from us and from our children, and from future generations - and the authorities and our civil society leaders seem to be powerless to arrest the trend."
Federal Liberal Party M-P Julian Leeser — whose electorate includes Dural- says police should tell the community about these investigations as soon as possible.
Federal Opposition Leader Peter Dutton is also calling on Prime Minister Anthony Albanese and other senior ministers to reveal when they found out about the incident.
