Health Minister Mark Butler says the interception of a carload of potentially armed men while travelling to Bondi Beach was “extraordinary” and serves as a reminder of the ongoing efforts at hand to preserve public safety in the wake of Sunday’s terror attack.
The men were rammed by heavily armed tactical police while driving through Liverpool in Sydney’s south-west yesterday afternoon, amid reports of a violent act potentially being planned. Police haven’t identified any connection with the investigation into the Bondi attack, and more information is expected to be shared later today.
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“They are extraordinary images,” Butler told Nine’s Today. “And they remind us that while we’re all mourning, while the nation’s trying to come to grips with what happened on Sunday night, our policing intelligence authorities are still working day and night to keep our country safe from any further threats of violence and harm.”
The men’s motive is unclear, and the group was flagged because they were known to Victorian law enforcement. They were driving in hatchbacks with Victorian number plates.
Alex Ryvchin, the chief executive of the Australian Council for Jewry, said the interception was evidence “this threat isn’t over”.
“I don’t think they were coming to Bondi to pay their respects,” he said from the beach a moment ago.
Citing last summer’s wave of antisemitic attacks across the country, Ryvchin said Sunday’s incident had “made the community extremely fearful, and it’s made them understand the limitations of policing, the limitations of security, intelligence, and certainly of government”.
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