An extremist slogan graffitied on a suburban Canberra fence is on the radar of police as the nation grapples with the fallout of the terror attack in Bondi nearly three weeks ago.
The misspelled tag “global jhiad” was sprayed in white paint on the grey metal fence at least a week ago, on top of other graffiti already on the Chifley property.
An ACT Policing spokesman said officers would always assess “this type of material” when reported “and will not hesitate to investigate when criminality is identified”.
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“While the content is objectionable in a modern and inclusive society, it may not meet the threshold for a criminal offence relating to the content or symbols. Depending on the scale, some graffiti may meet a criminal damage offence threshold,” they said.
“Anyone who has any information about the creation of this type of graffiti is encouraged to contact Crime Stoppers via crimestoppersact.com.au.”
The misspelled tag was painted on top of other graffiti at least a week ago. Credit: Unknown/Supplied
However, ACT Police have not observed an increase in this type of graffiti in the wake of the Bondi shooting.
In a separate incident last week, police arrested an 18-year-old Canberra man who faced charges of allegedly performing Nazi salutes at two suburban shopping centres and allegedly posting propaganda stickers across the ANU campus.
Prime Minister Anthony Albanese is expected to recall Parliament within weeks to pass tougher laws aimed at stopping hate preachers with lower legal thresholds to make sure the type of anti-Semitic and radicalising speech that worried security agencies was captured.
The new laws should also allow the Government to list Hizb ut-Tahrir as a terror organisation, Home Affairs Minister Tony Burke has said — something that ministers have grappled with for decades, as revealed in the Howard-era 2005 Cabinet papers released this week.
AFP Commissioner Krissy Barrett said on Tuesday that she had established a “flying squad of hate disruptors” to focus on “high harm, high impact, politically-motivated violence, communal violence and hate crimes that do not meet the threshold for terrorism investigations but drive fear and division”.
