VZCZCXRO4551
PP RUEHPT
DE RUEHBY #1124/01 3572109
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
P 232109Z DEC 09
FM AMEMBASSY CANBERRA
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC PRIORITY 2463
INFO RUEHPT/AMCONSUL PERTH 5127
RUEHDN/AMCONSUL SYDNEY 5132
RUEHBN/AMCONSUL MELBOURNE 6863

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 02 CANBERRA 001124 
 
SIPDIS 
 
FOR S/CT RHONDA SHORE 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: PTER ASEC EFIN KCRM KHLS PINS PREL AEMR AS
SUBJECT: AUSTRALIA: 2009 COUNTRY REPORT ON TERRORISM 
 
REF: A. STATE 109980 
     ¶B. STATE 122733 
 
¶1.  (U) The text of the report follows.  The stakeholders at 
post, RSO, Legatt, and DEA have cleared the text.  The 
embassy point of contact is Virgil Strohmeyer, 
strohmeyervb@state.gov. 
 
Australia 
 
Australia continued to play a leadership role in the fight 
against terrorism through multilateral and bilateral fora, 
including through the annual Trilateral Security Dialogue 
with Japan and the United States, and the Lombok Treaty with 
Indonesia.  Late in December 2009, the government is expected 
to release its Counter Terrorism Defense White Paper 
outlining Australia's priorities in combating terrorism. 
 
The Australian Security Intelligence Organization (ASIO) 
assessed that terrorism remains a serious and immediate 
threat to Australia; that the Middle East, South Asia and now 
East Africa are the primary sources of motivation and 
capability for extremists in Australia; and that the number 
of Islamic extremists was very small and did not change 
substantially.  There were no terrorist attacks in Australia 
in 2009; there has not been one since 1986.  The most serious 
terrorism case was the arrest of five men for allegedly 
planning a suicide attack on an Australian military base. 
The Australian National Counter-Terrorism Committee (NCTC) 
alert level remained at medium. 
 
On August 12, the government announced proposed reforms to 
counterterrorism legislation including expanding the 
definition of a "terrorist act" in the Criminal Code to 
include psychological, as well as physical harm; extending 
the expiration period of regulations proscribing a terrorist 
organization from two to three years; extending parliamentary 
oversight of the Australian Federal Police (AFP); and 
providing further limits on the period a suspect can be held 
without charge. 
 
The government directed intelligence agencies - including the 
Australian Transaction and Reports Analysis Centre (AUSTRAC) 
which monitors financial transactions - to increase 
monitoring of small transactions sent abroad.  "The Hawala 
network, that is, the Islamic financial network, is a very, 
very difficult thing to police, but there are intelligence 
capabilities to look at how these things operate," the 
Attorney-General said. 
 
18 groups were included on the Listing of Terrorist 
Organizations.  In 2009, 10 groups were re-listed, including 
the Kurdistan Workers Party, Lashkar-e-Tayyiba, Palestinian 
Islamic Jihad, Ansar al-Islam and Asbat al-Ansar and Islamic 
Movement of Uzbekistan. 
 
--In February, seven men from Melbourne were sentenced to 
jail terms, ranging from four and a half to 15 years, for 
their involvement in planning terrorist activities.  They 
were arrested in November 2005, during concerted actions on 
suspected Muslim terrorist groups in Melbourne and Sydney. 
An eighth, who trained in Afghanistan, was sentenced to five 
years jail in September (another, who pled guilty, was jailed 
in August 2007). 
--In October, five Sydney men (arrested as part of a series 
of raids in 2005) were found guilty of plotting terrorist 
attacks.  Sentencing hearings will begin on December 14, 
¶2009.  Soon after, it was revealed four other men involved in 
the plot had pled guilty and had been sentenced to jail terms 
- two of them are now free. 
--In August, five Melbourne men, some with alleged links to 
Somali militant group al-Shabab, were charged with plotting 
an attack on a Sydney army barracks.  On August 21, al-Shabab 
was listed as a terrorist organization. 
Qwas listed as a terrorist organization. 
--In September, a Lebanese-born Sydney man, Bilal Khazal, was 
sentenced to 12 years jail for posting a terrorism handbook 
titled "Provisions on the Rules of Jihad" on the internet. 
In December 2003, he and his brother were sentenced in 
absentia by a Lebanese military tribunal for financing an 
Islamic extremist group, which bombed U.S. businesses. 
 
The National Security Adviser (NSA), a position created 
December 2008, help the Prime Minister on all policy matters 
relating to the security of the nation, including countering 
terrorism, and overseeing the implementation of all national 
security policy arrangements.  A National Intelligence 
Coordination Committee (NICC) chaired by the NSA ensured that 
national intelligence efforts were integrated across 
governmental agencies.  The National Security Committee of 
 
CANBERRA 00001124  002 OF 002 
 
 
Cabinet, chaired by the Prime Minister, was the focal point 
of national security decision making. 
 
The Lombok Treaty between Australia and Indonesia provided 
the model for further international bilateral CT cooperation. 
 Law enforcement cooperation included police-to-police 
coordination, particularly in trafficking in persons, trade 
in illicit drugs, border control, defense, and terrorism. 
Australia assisted Indonesia in the investigation of the July 
hotel bombings in Jakarta. 
 
Australian multilateral engagement continued in forums such 
as the United Nations, Association of Southeast Asian Nations 
(ASEAN), ASEAN Regional Forum, Asia Pacific Economic 
Cooperation, Pacific Island Forum, and G8 Counterterrorism 
Action Group, as well as in the Global Initiative to Combat 
Nuclear Terrorism.  Australia has counterterrorism memoranda 
of understanding with Indonesia, the Philippines, Malaysia, 
Cambodia, Thailand, Brunei, Fiji, Papua New Guinea, East 
Timor, India, Pakistan, Afghanistan, Turkey and Bangladesh. 
The AFP, ASIO and other intelligence bodies liaise with their 
overseas counterparts. 
 
Australia continued to provide legal drafting assistance to 
regional states seeking to adopt international conventions 
and protocols against terrorism, and to bring their law codes 
into conformity with these conventions.  ASIO reported the 
number of Islamic extremists willing to use violence was very 
small and did not change substantially between July 2008 and 
June 2009.  It found further evidence of hostile intelligence 
services using the internet in attempts to steal confidential 
government and business information, and discovered 
continuing state-sponsored efforts to procure materiel and 
knowledge for weapons programs - including weapons of mass 
destruction.  The public was encouraged to report suspicious 
activity to the National Security Hotline. 
 
In October Australia participated in the Fifth Regional 
Interfaith Dialogue in Perth, which was sponsored by 
Australia, Indonesia, New Zealand and the Philippines.  It 
aimed to promote peace and understanding through interfaith 
links.  Within Australia, the government funded projects 
encouraging tolerance of religious diversity, particularly 
focusing on strengthening goodwill between Muslims and 
non-Muslims. 
 
Australia and the United States exchanged information on 
known and suspected terrorists using the Terrorist Screening 
Center and APEC's Regional Movement Alert System (RMAS). 
Australia participated in the Visa Waiver Program; it 
complied with requirements related to information sharing 
relating to counterterrorism cooperation.  The Australian 
Defence Force (ADF) boosted its contribution in Afghanistan 
to approximately 1550.  Around 800 additional personnel were 
deployed elsewhere in the Middle East. 
 
CLUNE