Australia is targeting nations trying to sow community discord, as the government cracks down on state-sponsored terror and sets up a police task force to monitor "groups of concern". The action follows allegations by spy agency ASIO that Iran's hardline Revolutionary Guard Corps orchestrated the firebombing of Jewish sites in Sydney and Melbourne in 2024, prompting the expulsion of Tehran's ambassador.
Labor quickly promised to list the guard as a terror organisation in response to the attacks, once it had legal powers in place, and ejected Iran's ambassador.
The government has now introduced legislation to parliament that will allow groups backed by foreign governments to be designated state sponsors of terror.
Attorney-General Michelle Rowland said the attacks on the Jewish community were abhorrent and the government needed to respond.
"These two state-sponsored attacks targeting Jewish Australians on Australian soil represent a turning point in our experience of terrorism," she told parliament while introducing the new laws on Wednesday.
"While these attacks may have been targeted at one part of our community, they were attacks on our sovereignty and our collective way of life," Ms Rowland said.
The reforms will also make it a criminal offence to be a member of, or associate with, state sponsors of terrorism.
The changes are expected to pass this year with opposition support, allowing Home Affairs Minister Tony Burke to formally designate the Revolutionary Guard a terror group.
Community tensions have skyrocketed in Australia since Hamas, a designated terrorist organisation, crossed the Gaza border and killed 1200 Israelis and took 250 hostages, sparking a deadly and ongoing Israeli response.
ASIO believes the Revolutionary Guard directed attacks on Jewish sites in a bid to sow division across the community.
An Australian Federal Police taskforce has also been set up to investigate groups and individuals working to undermine the nation's social cohesion.
Teams based in Sydney, Melbourne and Canberra began work under the AFP's counter terrorism and special operations command in September.
There will be a special focus on behaviour which may not meet the threshold for terrorism, but could eventually escalate into politically motivated violence.
"There are current and emerging groups who are eroding our country's social fabric by advocating hatred, fear, and humiliation, and the AFP is putting them on notice," Commissioner Krissy Barrett said in a statement.
The "national security investigations" team will also work with ASIO alongside state and territory police to investigate threats against federal politicians.
