A series of events in Australia in the last few days have quite frankly left me reeling in shock and

surprise. The first was an incident where an 18-year- old boy was shot dead by police. Technically he's a
man but I call him a boy. A boy who was foolish and very nave. A brain washed jihadist. A supporter of
ISIL, a Muslim extremist group, which wants to destroy all of us for no reason other than, who we are
and how we live. He came to the attention of authorities for some of the things he was saying on social
media like wanting to behead police, drape their bodies in the ISIS flag and post the images online. He
also made death threats against the Australian Prime Minister.
Very surprisingly and quite ironically the police decided to deal with this by taking a fairly low, key
approach. Instead of a dawn raid and arresting him at gunpoint they invited him to come and see them
at the police station. They arranged a time and he turned up to be met by two officers outside the
station. What happened next will become the subject of an official inquiry. But it appears that when one
of the policemen tried to shake his hand in greeting, the 18-year-old produced a knife and began
hacking at the two policemen. It is believed that one of the policemen fired a single, fatal shot at the 18year-old. It was both tragic and senseless.
This young boy was seen talking with older men before this incident occurred which supports the idea
that he was not acting alone. He first came to the attention of police and intelligence authorities, three
months ago, because he was part of a small group of men sharing messages preaching violence and
hate. Authorities were concerned he may try to join ISIL in Syria and Iraq so they cancelled his passport.
The second disturbing report was an allegation of a second, separate attack on a serving member of the
Australian Army who was walking along the street minding his own business. The catalyst for the attack
was the fact that he was wearing the Australian Army uniform. In a recent development, police are now
saying the attack didn't happen but it was enough for Australian Defence Force Chiefs to issue an order
for defence force personnel not to wear their uniform in public. Reports of these two incidents coincide
with ISIL using social media to call on its supporters to attack indiscriminately. They were told they did
not need the authority of a senior Muslim cleric, they should just go ahead and wage jihad and God was
on their side. These people seem to be under the illusion that we are back in the Middle Ages fighting
some sort of mythical crusade. Muslim versus Christian. What is most disturbing is that a number of
young Muslim men, in a number of Western countries believe in this nonsense. What worries me the
most about these developments is that this could be a double-edged sword. We need to be worried
about radicalised Jihadists but we should also be equally worried about whack jobs who want to attack
Muslims for being Muslim. There's been reported incidents of vandalism and graffiti but fortunately no
violence.
Here is a small reality check.
The vast majority of Muslims in Australia, or anywhere else in the world are not defined by what the
Islamic State does in Iraq and Syria. They are peace-loving people who believe in tolerance, benevolence
and humanity. As President Obama quite correctly pointed out, No God condones terror.
But there is no denying these incidents frighten people and when people are frightened they lose
perspective and forget to think and respond rationally.

And what usually follows is that other unfortunate by-product - the rights and freedoms that we have
come to expect and accept are suddenly under threat.
The Australian Prime Minister said as much the other day. In a speech clearly aimed at softening up the
country he said some freedoms needed to be sacrificed in order to protect the vast majority. He asked
Australians to support this shift in what he called the delicate balance between freedom and security.
We are only just beginning to find out what this actually means. In Federal Parliament late last night a
bill was passed giving Australia's domestic spy agency, the Australian Security Intelligence Organization,
unprecedented and unfettered power to monitor the entire Australian internet. All that is needed is one
warrant. It passed with bi-partisan support so the Opposition clearly agreed with the Government. ASIO
will be able to copy, delete or modify data held on any computer it has a warrant to monitor. It also
allows ASIO to disrupt target computers and use innocent third-party computers not targeted as a way
of accessing targeted computers. Many lawyers and academics are saying this bill goes too far.
Australian Attorney-General George Brandis says we all better get used to living in this "newly
dangerous age." It is vital he said to equip those protecting Australia with the necessary powers and
capabilities needed to do their job.
That's all well and good but what about the checks and balances? Where are they? How can we be sure
that ASIO won't abuse these massive new powers? And if you are worried about these questions, and
you should be, then what I am about to tell should make you even more worried. The bill also allows for
journalists, whistle-blowers and bloggers who " recklessly" disclose information that relates to a special
intelligence operation to be jailed for ten years. Get this. Any operation can be declared to be "special"
by an ASIO agent. It also gives ASIO immunity from criminal and civil liability in certain circumstances. In
other words it makes them pretty much untouchable.
Now don't get my wrong. I am all for giving law enforcement the powers they need to do their job but
that doesn't mean they have an open checkbook. And going after whistleblowers and journalists
providing the necessary balance, threatening them with a hefty prison sentence, is not a good thing in a
democratic country. It is very much the case of shooting the messenger. Of course with the threat of a
ten-year prison sentence hanging over them, whistleblowers will become extinct. I'm sure that is exactly
what Governments around the world want to happen. I'm sorry but I don't trust ASIO not to abuse its
powers. Unless we have something or someone keeping a watchful eye out on behalf of us all there is a
danger that the so-called cure could end up being far worse than the disease.
My book called Cover Up is available for sale through Amazon. Here is the link. It's a good, racy read .