The newly elected Labour Government in Australia is reported to be planning a significant change in national security policy “that will draw substantially on Britain's strategy, which emphasises tackling the causes of terrorism.”
(http://www.smh.com.au/news/national/rudd-to-shake-up-national-security/2008/01/18/1200620210388.html).
The likely change in policy is reported to result in “putting more resources into building relationships with vulnerable local communities rather than solely pumping more funds into intelligence agencies.”
Australia has already proven to be a safe haven for terrorist financiers , including the SDGT Yassin Al-Kadi ( see for example the story aired on Australia’s ABC Radio at www.abc.net.au/rn/backgroundbriefing/stories/2006/1754286.htm)
Other references to Islamist and jihadist support networks in Australia can be found on this blog at links:
a) http://www.terrorfinance.org/the_terror_finance_blog/2006/08/human_appealter.html
b) http://www.terrorfinance.org/the_terror_finance_blog/2006/08/yassin_alkadist.html
Unconfirmed reports received recently suggest that Sudan’s Islamists are also seeking to use Australia as a safe haven for their funds. These reports also suggest that there was Islamist involvement in a case reported in 2005, where an unemployed Sudanese refugee travelling from Sydney to Auckland , New Zealand was found to have on his person USD 1.26 million in counterfeit currency (http://www.smh.com.au/news/world/nz-customs-seize-huge-stash-of-counterfeit-cash/2005/10/20/1129775897065.html)
The Australian Labour Party has traditionally relied on the votes of ethnic communities to gain and remain in power. The proposed policy of “putting more resources into building relationships with vulnerable local communities” should be seen in the context of realpolitik rather than security policy.
That terrorism can only be truly tackled by addressing its roots causes, primarily poverty, is an article of faith among many Australian policy makers and academics.
This is despite the fact that there are now numerous studies , including some from Muslim Malaysia, which have shown that the relationship between fundamentalism and the consequent terrorist-jihadist activity is positively correlated with wealth, not poverty.
For example the Malaysian Muslim woman academic Maznah Mohamad has written:
At first blush Islamic fundamentalism may appear to be a movement against
modernization, but it is in fact a manifestation of modernization. Perhaps modernization is the punching-bag of Islamic fundamentalism but it is also its midwife......
(M Mohamad - Global Change, Peace & Security, 2004 - informaworld.com)
See also three essays on the Economics and Finance of Terrorism by Siddhartha Mitra at http://www.terrorfinance.org/the_terror_finance_blog/2007/05/three_essays_on.html
As these 3 essays show, one must have the resources to carry out terrorist activity; the poor usually suffer in silence.
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