Man Haron Monis was reported to the national security hotline by relatives of his most recent girlfriend, who believed the Sydney siege gunman “was definitely hiding something”, an inquest has heard.
But one cousin, who cannot be named for legal reasons, said she was advised by the hotline Monis “wasn’t a threat” because he had not sought to go overseas.
Wednesday was the final day of this phase of public hearings into the deaths of Tori Johnson, Katrina Dawson and Man Haron Monis following a 17-hour siege of the Lindt Cafe in December.
The inquest heard Monis’ partner, who was from a non-Muslim background, was introduced to him by her mother in 2008. He claimed to be a 39-year-old Egyptian named Michael. She soon fell “madly in love” with Monis, who appeared polite, reserved and financially well-off.
But her family found him to be “secretive”. “We weren’t allowed to question him,” the cousin said. “[He gave] no direct answers, which always made us suspicious ... We slowly learned not to push his buttons.”
She said Monis also refused to pose for photographs, and his girlfriend would delete any pictures in which he appeared. “We approached my aunty and said there’s something wrong here, this guy isn’t letting us photograph, he’s not answering basic questions,” she said.
“And she said no that’s probably his religion, they don’t take photos.
“We would leave there feeling awkward, suspicious, like this guy was hiding something, but we didn’t know what,” she said.
In 2010 the cousin and her sister called the national security hotline, but said they were told he “didn’t meet the check list” because he had not planned any external flights. Monis had fallen off an Asio watchlist the previous year. “We didn’t ring again,” she said
The cousin, a former soldier, said she fell out with Monis’ girlfriend after she was convicted of helping him send offensive letters to the families of deceased Australian soldiers.
“We took great offence to that. We said, ‘We’ve actually served in the Australian army and you’re spitting in your face, your cousin’s face’.”
The inquest also heard from Monis’ barber, Anthony Hancock, who briefly socialised with the gunman between 2002 and 2005. He said he once made a house call to Monis’ apartment, where he conducted his clairvoyance business.
“It was set up as an office, so there was a desk, phone, a lounge, the big screen TV, a camera on a tripod and other cameras in the room,” he said.
When he asked why there were so many cameras in the room, Monis replied he “filmed many of the sessions”. “He said, he did white magic and spells but only good magic, white magic, and that he would film both,” Hancock said.
The inquest has previously heard Monis used the business as a guise to sexually assault women, charges he was facing when he was shot by police in the early hours of 16 December.
Monis slept in the apartment most nights, away from his then-partner, Noleen Hayson Pal, who lived with her parents. When Hancock asked why Monis spent so much time away from his wife, he replied: “Well business is business, my wife trusts me and she must not question me about where I am or what I do.”
On Thursday the coroner will hear an application by the New South Wales director of public prosecutions (DPP) to remove from the inquest’s terms any examination of whether Monis should have been out on bail at the time of the siege. The DPP claims the bail question falls outside the inquest’s purview.
The inquest will re-open in August, when it will examine the conduct of the police and the media during the siege. A third round of hearings, focusing on the experiences of the 18 hostages, will open in February next year.
