Australia’s national terror threat level has been lifted from ‘possible’ to ‘probable’. That means our top spy agency ASIO believes there’s a greater than 50% chance of an attack on Australian soil – or an attack being planned – in the next 12 months. Our terrorism threat is set at one of 5 levels, with ‘possible’ the second-lowest rating and ‘probable’ being in the middle of the list. Above it, the most serious levels are ‘expected’ and then ‘certain’, but we’re not there yet… The level had been at ‘possible’ since 2022 – the last time it was raised to ‘probable’ was in 2014 after the rise of Islamic State.

What’s that about?

PM Anthony Albanese says the troubles in the Middle East have”significantly” changed the terrorism game here, but he noted there’s no intelligence suggesting an attack is imminent. ASIO Director-General Mike Burgess says more Aussies are becoming ”radicalised” across “all ideological spectrums” due to declining social cohesion and reduced trust in governments/democratic processes. That’s been fuelled by online conspiracy theories, which have seen 8 attacks/disrupted terror plots since April. Coalition leader Peter Dutton says we need to be alert for terror threats because we “live in a precarious time”. Albanese has put some responsibility onto our pollies, calling on them to watch their language and engage in “respectful” public debate. He said “when the temperature of the security environment is rising, we must lower the temperature of debate.” 

So it’s true that words matter? 

They sure do. Speaking of, Israel has accused Foreign Minister Penny Wong of “misrepresenting” the findings of a report released on Friday into Australian aid worker Zomi Frankcom‘s death in Gaza. The food delivery vehicle she and her colleagues were in was hit by an Israeli airstrike in April. Our government had former Australian Defence Force chief Mark Binskin investigate, and his findings concurred with Israel’s position that it was a “grave mistake” that “should not have occurred”. Despite the findings, Wong said on Friday it had been an “intentional strike” and that Israel should apologise to Frankcom’s family. She added that Australia would continue to press for criminal charges if appropriate. Testing times ahead…