PRIME MINISTER:
This has obviously been a very testing and taxing and troubling 36 hours for the people of Sydney, New South Wales and Australia. This is an incident which has echoed around the world and not only millions of people here in Australia, but tens, if not hundreds of millions of people right around the world have been focused on the city of Sydney which has been touched by terrorism for the first time in more than 35 years.
This has been an absolutely appalling and ugly incident. That's the only way to describe it: an appalling and ugly incident.
Our hearts go out to the families of Katrina Dawson and Tori Johnson. These were decent, good people, who were going about their ordinary lives. It's about as innocent a thing as anyone can do to go and grab a cup of coffee before the working day has fully started. Decent, innocent people who got caught up in the sick fantasy of a deeply disturbed individual and we have seen the consequences of this play out over the last 36 hours.
I do want to thank and congratulate the New South Wales Police for the commitment and the professionalism that they have shown at all times. We have got, obviously, Commissioner Colvin of the Australian Federal Police and Deputy Commissioner Burn of the New South Wales Police here to talk about operational matters should that be necessary. But, if I could say on behalf of the national Government and the Australian people, to you, Mike, and to you, Deputy Commissioner Burn, everyone has been impressed by the speed of the New South Wales Police response, the thoroughness of the preparations that they made and the professionalism of the action that they took once it became obvious that people inside the cafe were being taken out by this deluded and sick individual.
As well as feeling very proud of the New South Wales Police, I think that every Sydneysider can feel quietly proud of the way this city has handled one of the most difficult 36 hours in our history. People have gone about their business and in the aftermath of the end of the siege last night, people have responded with typical Australian decency and generosity and the spontaneous shrine which has developed now in Martin Place is so much an expression of that innate goodness and decency which is a mark of the Australian character.
The tragedy of these times is that there are people, even in a society such as ours, who wish to do us harm. We are not immune to the politically motivated violence which has for so long stalked other countries. But, over the last 36 hours, we have responded to this in character with grit, with stoicism, with equanimity and I am absolutely confident that whatever happens in the days and weeks and months to come, Australia will always be a free and open and a generous society. We have seen in just the last day or so Australians opening their hearts to members of all the different communities which make up this rich and multicultural city.
It is pretty obvious that the perpetrator was a deeply disturbed individual, a long history of crime, a long history of mental instability and infatuation with extremism. It’s interesting that the ISIL death cult seems to attract people like that. I refuse to use the term Islamic State and I would strongly caution anyone, anywhere, from using that term, because that exults a movement which has nothing to do with any real religion and is a travesty of a true and just state. It is very wrong to identify the death cult that the individual concerned tried to associate himself with; it is very wrong to identify that death cult with any community or with any faith. The phrase that I like to refer to, uttered by my friend, Prime Minister Najib of Malaysia, of the ISIL death cult: it's against God, it's against religion, it's against humanity.
Finally, let me just say that we have seen in the worst of times the best of people. It really is extraordinary to see the crowds of Sydneysiders in Martin Place right now, paying their respects to those who suffered, to those who died and to those who served. It is a sign of our good character as a people and as a country. Finally, can I just say what a rock of stability and reassurance, a rock of steadfastness, Premier Mike Baird has been, not just for the people of New South Wales, but for the people of Australia over the last 36 hours and if you would like to add to these remarks, I'd be pleased.
PREMIER BAIRD:
Thank you, Prime Minister, and I do thank you for your support and the Federal Government's support during these very trying hours that we have had to face over the last day and a half.
I certainly want to start by saying as you start to see the stories unfold of the victims whose lives have been lost, it is hard not for our heart to become a little heavier. Young Australians with a huge future going about their daily lives. There is nothing sadder and nothing more tragic than what we have seen. Our thoughts and prayers go very much to their family and friends as they deal with this in a way that cannot be imagined. How they are dealing with it is beyond comprehension, but we know they will and we want them to know that we are beside them as they deal with these events. But often when there is despair, there is also hope, and there is also a positive spirit that we are seeing.
I just want to say thanks to the New South Wales Police. What I have seen in the last 36 hours is incredible. Their professionalism, their determination, how they have gone about their business, has been nothing but exemplary. I am very proud of them. Indeed, as I get comment after comment across the community, how proud they are of the New South Wales Police and they have every right to be so. They have done an incredible job in difficult circumstances and I want to thank them for what they have done and the Prime Minister and I had an opportunity to go and thank some that have worked very hard at the Police Operation Centre, many without sleep, going round the clock to ensure that every chance was given to getting out as many hostages as we could.
Secondly, and really lastly, I just want to say thanks to this city. I mean, this city is amazing. Its people are incredible and what you are seeing in Martin Place right now as it unfolds, it is almost as if a beating heart of the city is being put in place. That's what those flowers represent to me. It is showing us that this city is alive. It is beating. Despite the challenges, despite the tragedies we have endured, it is people saying they care. They are coming alongside the victims' families, they are coming alongside everyone that is feeling the weight of what we have seen in the last 36 hours and as we look at that heart start to beat, my encouragement to the state is look at the hope, look at what we can do when we come together. Feed on that hope because my strong sense is we are going to come out of it stronger. So, thank you to everyone that has participated. I know the city, I know the state, is getting a lot of comfort from it and it is an incredibly symbolic gesture that is holding us high whilst we deal with these circumstances.
QUESTION:
Prime Minister, you’ve mentioned that this man had a long history of being known to police. What would you say to the people at home wondering how this was allowed to happen?
PRIME MINISTER:
That's a very fair question and, obviously, once the initial shock has passed that's precisely the kind of question that members of the public are entitled to ask and if I can be candid with you, that is the question that we were asking ourselves around the National Security Committee of the Cabinet today – how can someone who has had such a long and chequered history not be on the appropriate watch lists and how can someone like that be entirely at large in the community? These are questions that we need to look at carefully and calmly and methodically to learn the right lessons and to act upon them. That's what we'll be doing in the days and weeks ahead.
You might know that since we started to get terrorist chatter of acts of random violence against Australian citizens, we have been upgrading our security. You see it at Parliament House in Canberra, you saw it with the raising of the terror alert level to High, you've seen it with the new legislation that's gone through the Parliament and in the substantial boost to funding for our police and security agencies.
So, we have been responding effectively, I believe, appropriately, I'm sure, to the intelligence that we have been getting over time, but, obviously, now that this incident has taken place, notwithstanding the fact that the New South Wales Police and other agencies responded so well, we do have to ask ourselves the question, could it have been prevented?
Let me offer this thought – and Commissioner Colvin might like to say something here – even if this individual – this sick and disturbed individual – had been front and centre on our watch lists, even if this individual had been monitored 24 hours a day, it's quite likely, certainly possible, that this incident could have taken place, because the level of control that would be necessary to prevent people from going about their daily life would be very, very high indeed. That said, we are always looking at what can be done better. We are always looking at what lessons can be learned and how things can be improved.
COMMISSIONER COLVIN:
Thank you, Prime Minister. If I could echo the comments of the Prime Minister, obviously in the coming days, weeks and months there will be a number of investigations and we'll be asking a lot of those questions and we'll be in a position to answer those questions. For now, I think it's important to reinforce that this is what security agencies and police in this country and political leaders have been saying for the last few weeks and months, that this was an important concern for our agencies in this country. The activities of an individual, acting alone as we believe this offender was, without any prior warning or any prior knowledge, makes it very difficult for police and security agencies to be able to disrupt or interdict that type of activity. Of course, we need to work through now the facts, we need to work through and establish exactly what we know before we make those judgments and that will come in the coming days and weeks.
QUESTION:
Premier, would you be able to comment on that, given that this guy was out on bail?
PREMIER BAIRD:
I echo the Prime Minister's comments, we are all outraged that this guy was on the street – we are. And we need to understand why he was. We also need to understand why he wasn't picked up and we'll be working closely with the Federal authorities together with our own agencies to ensure what we can do better. We need to understand the circumstances here. The community has every right to feel upset. I'm incredibly upset. I'm outraged and what we need to do is to ensure that everything is done to learn from this. Can we do it better – and that's exactly what we are working with with the Federal Government, over the coming weeks.
QUESTION:
Premier, you say you’re outraged but it was your government’s weakened bail laws that allowed this man to be out of custody. Do you admit that your government was wrong to do that?
PREMIER BAIRD:
I have been Premier for seven months and what I have done on bail is strengthen it. I have taken advice. I wanted to bring community safety front and centre and they are my actions. I have also said that the bail laws must be implemented. I have asked the police, together with justice agencies, to implement them as quickly as they possibly can. The Police Commissioner again confirmed today that the implementation has been brought forward. It was previously 12 months. They have brought it back to about five months. They are doing everything possible to deliver it but if they don't do it properly it opens us up to additional risks and additional exposures in the legal system. The Police Commissioner is adamant that it can't be done until 31 January. I have to take the expert advice. That's my job. That's what the Police Commissioner tells me is the timeframe, that is the timeframe that I will ask to be met. We have asked it to be done as quickly as possible.
QUESTION:
Would you consider a further tightening of the laws if this review reveals that it's necessary?
PREMIER BAIRD:
I think I have shown my hand on this. If this review shows that we need to do more, I'll be doing more. My job is pretty simple, to try and protect and ensure that our community is safe. So, if there are other measures we need to do, we will and let's be clear, we are open, the state government, together with the Federal Government, to do anything we possibly can. If we need to do it better, we will. And we'll take all advice and we’ll bring it together as quickly as we possibly can, because that's what the community deserves and that’s what it expects and that’s what it will receive.
QUESTION:
Mr Abbott, do you think it would have been more likely that intelligence agencies would have caught this man if the third tranche of your anti-terror laws were already in place now?
PRIME MINISTER:
It’s too early to say because we don’t know exactly what kind of communications this individual has had with others – we just don’t know. We may well discover that it would have helped to have this additional legislation in place, but it is too early to say. What I think is clear is that we do face a very real threat from people who want to do us harm and who invoke this death cult ideology as a justification. And that's why we put forward the metadata retention laws, that is why we are determined to deal with them as quickly as we can in the New Year. The assurance I give to you and to every Australian is that this Government will do whatever is humanly possible to keep you safe. That’s what we will do because nothing undermines a society, a community, an individual, than any sense that you are not safe in your own homes, in your own streets. I pledge myself, and I'm sure Mike would say the same, I pledge myself to do whatever is humanly necessary to maximise the protection of you, the Australian people.
QUESTION:
Is the terror alert level going to remain unchanged and why?
PRIME MINISTER:
Again, the terror alert level is set on the basis of the advice of our expert security analysts and at the level that it is – high – a terrorist act is likely. There are people who have the will and the capability to carry out terrorist acts. Now, I've had no advice over the last 36 hours to suggest that it should change. If it was to go up another notch, that would be to indicate that a terrorist attack is imminent and while we can't say what the future holds, I have no intelligence whatsoever to suggest that that might be the case.
QUESTION:
Prime Minister, would you say that this instils fear that there are more people that are falling through the cracks and also that this incident might prompt people to carry out an attack?
PRIME MINISTER:
I don’t want to engage in a crystal ball gazing exercise. I just think that that would be wrong. I want to tell the Australian people what has been done and what will be done.
I want to reassure them that this is a Government of practical initiatives to respond intelligently to all of the exigencies that we do or may face. That’s what this Government’s all about and I’m sure Premier Baird has the same attitude as the head of the New South Wales government.
The interesting feature of this incident, this brush with terrorism that we’ve just experienced is that the individual concerned is obviously – was obviously – a deeply disturbed person, a deeply disturbed person. I can’t imagine that any sane person would want to emulate someone who had a long history of violence, including violence against loved ones, a long history of sexual assault, a long and incredibly erratic history of infatuation with extremism. There was nothing consistent about this individual's life except that he was consistently weird. Now, I don't think that anyone – anyone – would want to emulate that.
QUESTION:
Prime Minister, based on your earlier comments, can you clarify whether this man was on the watch list of intelligence agencies and if so where he featured on that list?
PRIME MINISTER:
Look, to answer as candidly as I can, in the past he certainly had been well-known to the Australian Federal Police and to ASIO, he obviously is currently well known to the New South Wales Police but I don't believe that he was on a terror watch list at this time.
QUESTION:
Prime Minister, I wondered, do you agree that this was largely an unsophisticated attack, if you like. What does that say about the ability of one man to cause so much chaos and the ability for that to happen in the future?
PRIME MINISTER:
There was obviously a very great degree of disruption in the city of Sydney yesterday, as you'd expect.
But I am confident that normal life will quickly resume and even yesterday for the vast majority of people in Sydney normal life went on. Do I think that jobs will be left undone because of this? Do I think that things that people would like to do won't be done because of this? No, I don't.
Australians will continue to work, to socialise, to do all the things that make us the people that we are. Because we are not easily put off, we are particularly not easily put off by individuals as sick and deranged as this particular person was. So, sure, it made an impact yesterday but I think the message that we take as Australians and I think the message that the world gets from the way this has been responded to is that Australians are a very capable and resilient people – a very, very capable and resilient people and that is a very reassuring message for ourselves and for those who watch us around the world.
QUESTION:
Have you spoken to any other world leaders or taken calls? And will you speak to the hostages or family members?
PRIME MINISTER:
Look, I have spoken to the brave police officer who was injured in the assault last night. I have to say that he is bearing up pretty well, as you'd expect from a highly professional, very well trained police officer. I have taken a number of calls from overseas friends, and leaders. I have received a number of messages from overseas friends and leaders and I've responded to them all. We have seen the public messages from people like President Obama, Prime Minister Cameron, Prime Minister Abe, Prime Minister Modi. Look, I am just really pleased at the way Australia's friends have rallied to us at this difficult time. As for the families of the victims – look, I certainly don't want to intrude on anyone's grief, but at the appropriate time, yes, I will be making contact.
QUESTION:
Do you have any words for the Muslim community who might be fearing vilification and are you concerned about the effect on social cohesion?
PRIME MINISTER:
We are a very united society. Yes, we have amongst us a few deranged individuals who may choose to try to wrap their psychoses in a political ideology. But the point I keep making is that the ISIL death cult has nothing to do with any religion, any real religion. It has nothing to do with any particular community. It is something to which sick individuals succumb and sick individuals exist in all communities and in all societies. This idea that ISIL is somehow spawned by any particular religion, frankly it's probably even less true than saying that Catholicism spawned the IRA. They're just completely separate things.
QUESTION:
Deputy Commissioner, can we ask you about what you're learning with the investigation ongoing, particularly reports today that two of the two victims acted particularly bravely in their last moments. Do you have some details about that?
DEPUTY COMMISSIONER BURN:
Yes, thank you. We do have a critical investigation under way at the moment. So, I am restricted in what I can talk about because it is important that we allow that investigation to be undertaken independently of the operation that was in place. We are conducting this investigation on behalf of the coroner and we will report to the coroner and the coroner will then make determinations. So, if there are lessons to be learned or issues for us to take on board, that is the process that will be undertaken. Clearly, if there are lessons we would welcome them absolutely. In terms of what actually might have gone on inside the location, it's too early for us to speculate. We're clearly speaking to those victims and we’re clearly speaking to other witnesses. But this is going to take a bit of time to piece this together because a lot of those people are quite traumatised as you could appreciate and they have health services, they have counselling and they have a range of other factors that we must deal with. So, over a short period of time we will obtain their statements and we will obtain information and we will put the picture together but it will take a little bit of time. I do understand that there are stories coming out about the heroic efforts and about the trauma that went on in there and I have no doubt it was tragedy, it was a terrifying ordeal for them all. It was 36 hours ago where we were standing here saying our aim is to have a peaceful resolution to this incident and our priority was the safety of every person who was held hostage. We stand here today where we did actually save the lives of some people but unfortunately there were two hostages whose lives we could not save. And the whole operation that was in play will now be investigated as a part of that critical incident investigation.
PRIME MINISTER:
Any further questions?
Thank you so much.
[ends]