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plus, Australian Christian Lobby's Canberra headquarters bombedby
Elizabeth Kendal
On the morning of Friday 23 December, some 400 heavily
armed police raided homes in five of Melbourne’s northern and western
suburbs.
The raids were the culmination of weeks of
intensive investigations and monitoring by Victoria Police, Australian Federal
Police, and ASIO (Australian Security Intelligence Organisation).
Seven
suspected Islamic terrorists were arrested. Of the five being held in custody,
four are Australian-born of Lebanese descent, while a fifth is an Egyptian-born
Australian citizen. Chief Commissioner
Graham
Ashton described them as “self-radicalised . . . [but] inspired by ISIS and
ISIS propaganda”.
According
to reports, the terror plotters were preparing to attack Melbourne’s
Flinders Street Station, St Paul’s Cathedral and Federation Square using
Improvised Explosive Devices and other weapons such as guns and knives, most
likely on Christmas Day.
Australian Federal Police commissioner Andrew
Colvin said this event had concerned him “more than any other” over the past few
years. “They had moved very quickly from an intention to a capability and
developed capability, including quite progressed plans, we will allege,” Mr
Colvin said.
“We’ve heard about Federation Square, we’ve heard about the
Flinders Street train station and St Paul’s Cathedral. We believe that they were
narrowing down exactly what their plan was, but that’s all in one very small
part of Melbourne’s CBD.”
Australian Prime Minister
Malcolm
Turnbull described it as "one of the most substantial terrorist plots that
have been disrupted [in Australia] in recent years".
Christmas services
will continue at the cathedral as planned, albeit under heightened security. “We
will be alert, but not afraid,” said Dean of St Paul’s, Dr Andreas Loewe. “We
thank the police and ASIO for their excellent work.”
Meanwhile in
CanberraJust days earlier, on the evening of Wednesday 21 December,
a van loaded with multiple gas canisters was driven at speed into the
headquarters of the
Australian Christian Lobby
(ACL), in the heart of the Australian capital, Canberra. The driver then
ignited the canisters, triggering a massive explosion.
The
blast blew out the widows and ignited a fire, resulting in significant
damage. Fortunately no-one was working inside the building at the time.
A conservative
Christian lobby group which lobbies for religious freedom and pro-family values,
ACL has received multiple death threats during the course of the year, mostly
for its reasoned defence of traditional marriage.
The driver survived the
attack and after presenting at a Canberra hospital with severe burns, was flown
to Sydney for specialist burns treatment. The police are not releasing the
bomber’s name, only that he is “an Australian citizen”. While Canberra police
have launched an investigation, they have already publicly asserted that the
attack was not politically, religiously or ideologically motivated, something
ACL Managing Director
Lyle Shelton finds difficult to swallow. "I think something of this nature,
that appears to be so deliberate, is an attack against the sort of things that
we've been saying in the public square," he told ABC radio. Mr Shelton said he
bore the bomber no malice, but was praying for his recovery and for his
family.
-------------------------------------
Elizabeth
Kendal is international religious liberty analyst and advocate. She serves
as Director of Advocacy at Canberra-based Christian Faith and Freedom (CFF), and
is an Adjunct Research Fellow at the Arthur Jeffery Centre for the Study of
Islam at Melbourne School of Theology.
She has authored two books:
Turn Back the Battle: Isaiah Speaks to Christians Today (Deror Books,
Melbourne, Australia, Dec 2012) which offers a Biblical response to persecution
and existential threat; and,
After Saturday Comes Sunday: Understanding the
Christian Crisis in the Middle East (Wipf and Stock, Eugene, OR, USA, June
2016).
See w
ww.ElizabethKendal.com
Topic: Australia: Major Terror Attack Averted in Melbourne
