19 Dec, 2014
Martin Place siege: Acknowledge errors to prepare for the future – Sydney Morning Herald
Australians approach the end of 2014 feeling markedly less secure than they began it. More than a feeling, this is a fact conceded by no less an authority than the government itself. Acting on the advice of its defence and security experts, the official “National Terrorism Public Alert System” currently ranks the domestic threat as “high” – meaning a terrorist attack is regarded as “likely”. It was changed from “medium” in September where it had been set for years – since September 2001, in fact.
An extra $630 million for counter-terrorism measures this year, and a solid raft of new powers aimed at gathering new information on the private dealings of people, have yet to turn this around.
Nor too has committing hundreds of Australian Defence Force personnel and sophisticated warplanes to another ambitious and open-ended Middle-East war. Quite the opposite.
Read the rest: Martin Place siege: acknowledge errors to prepare for the future.
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