List of terrorist incidents in Australia

List of major incidents in Australia where an organised group, or an individual claiming an association with such a group, attempts or plans an act of violence targeting innocents.

21st century

Date Type Dead Injured Location and description
  • Yugoslav travel agency bombing (1972)

The Sydney Yugoslav General Trade and Tourist Agency bombing occurred in Haymarket, Sydney on 16 September 1972; the attack injured sixteen people.[1] The perpetrators of the attack were believed to be Croatian separatists.[2]

  • Sydney Hilton bombing (1978)

The Sydney Hilton Hotel bombing occurred on 13 February 1978; a bomb exploded outside the Hilton Hotel in Sydney, which was hosting the first Commonwealth Heads of Government Regional Meeting. Two garbage collectors and a police officer were killed and eleven others were injured. As a result of the bombing, ASIO's powers and budget were greatly expanded. It was also a motivation for the formation of the Australian Federal Police.[3]

  • Sydney Turkish Consul General assassination (1980)

On 17 December 1980, Sydney Turkish Consul General Şarık Arıyak and his security attaché Engin Sever were assassinated by two people on motorcycles wielding firearms in Sydney. The Justice Commandos for the Armenian Genocide claimed responsibility but the culprits were never identified and no charges were laid. The Consul General was gunned down despite having taken precautions in the form of not travelling in the official consulate Mercedes Benz vehicle and instead being chauffeured in the trailing security attaché's car.[4]

  • Jack van Tongeran and the ANM (1980s, 2004)

Throughout the 1980s, West Australian neo-Nazi group "The Australian Nationalist Movement", led by Jack van Tongeren, engaged in a series of bombings of Asian restaurants and businesses, political violence, murder of a suspected informant and other acts to intimidate the Asian population. Van Tongeren was eventually imprisoned for a long period of time until his release in the early-mid 2000s. He resumed his activities until he was re-arrested in 2004 as part of Operation Atlantic, prompting a judge to order him to leave the state.[5]

  • Israeli consulate and Hakoah Club bombing (1982)

The bombing of the Israeli Consulate and Hakoah Club in Sydney occurred on 23 December 1982. The two bombings occurred on the same day within five hours of each other. The initial case led to a single arrest though charges were later dropped. In 2011, the NSW police and Australian federal police reopened the case citing new leads.[6][7][8][9]

  • Turkish consulate bombing (1986)

The Melbourne Turkish consulate bombing occurred on 23 November 1986; a car bomb exploded in a carpark beneath the Turkish Consulate in South Yarra, Victoria, killing the bomber who failed to correctly set up the explosive device. Levon Demirian, a Sydney resident with links to the Armenian Revolutionary Federation, was charged over the attack and served 10 years.[10]

  • Perth French Consulate bombing (1995)

In 1995, terrorists firebombed the French Consulate in Perth.[11]

On 16 July 2001, Peter James Knight, described as an "obsessive anti-abortionist" who lived alone in a makeshift camp in rural New South Wales, attacked the East Melbourne Family Planning clinic, a privately run clinic providing abortions, carrying a rifle, and large quantities of kerosene and lighters. He shot and killed a security guard at the clinic before his capture and arrest. He was charged and convicted of murder, and was sentenced to life imprisonment with a non-parole period of 23 years.[18] While Knight was not charged with any specific terrorism offences, Australian terrorism academic Clive Williams listed the attack amongst incidents of politically motivated violence in Australia.[12]

 4 August 2009 Planned Attack 0 0 Holsworthy Barracks terror plot - Five arrested for an Islamist terrorist plot uncovered in August 2009 targeting Holsworthy Barracks—an Australian Army training area with automatic weapons. Given lengthy prison terms, the judge called them an ongoing threat to society as long as they were unrepentant of their jihadist attitudes. Connected with the Somali-based terrorist group al-Shabaab.[13]
23 September 2014 Knife Attack 0 (+1 perpetrator) 2 2014 Endeavour Hills stabbings - 18-year-old Numan Haider stabbed two counter-terrorism officers in Endeavour Hills, a suburb of Melbourne, Victoria, Australia. He was then shot dead. He had just recently had his passport canceled for fears he would join ISIL. Haider was carrying two knives and the Black Standard flag.[14]
15 December 2014 Hostage Crisis and Shooting 2 (+1 perpetrator) 4 Sydney Siege - Man Haron Monis, a lone gunman, displaying an Daesh flag, held hostage ten customers and eight employees of a Lindt chocolate café located at Martin Place in Sydney, Australia. The Sydney siege lead to a 16-hour standoff, after which a gunshot was heard from inside and police officers from the Tactical Operations Unit stormed the café. Hostage Tori Johnson was killed by Monis and hostage Katrina Dawson was killed by a police bullet ricochet in the subsequent raid. Monis was also killed. Three other hostages and a police officer were injured by police gunfire during the raid.
10 February 2015 Planned Attack 0 0 Fairfield Raids - police in Sydney were tipped off two Islamic jihadists preparing terror attacks, arrested after observed purchasing weapons. They had already made a martyrdom video.[15]
2 October 2015 Shooting 1 (+1 perpetrator) 0 2015 Parramatta shooting - 15 year old Farhad Khalil Mohammad Jabar, an Iraqi-Kurd, shot dead Curtis Cheng, an civilian employee of the New South Wales Police, before getting shot dead by a New South Wales Police officer during a shootout. [16]
10 September 2016 Stabbing 0 2 A 22-year-old man inspired by Islamic State stabbed a man before being arrested and charged with attempted murder. He also incurred minor injuries on a nearby shop owner.
18 November 2016 Fire 26 (+1 perpetrator) An asylum seeker from Burma set himself on fire in the bank near Melbourne after issues with the legal and financial system left him unable to pay rent. 27 people were treated for smoke inhalation.[17]

References

  1. ↑ Abjorensen, Norman, and James C. Docherty. Historical Dictionary of Australia. Rowman and Littlefield. 2014. Page 355.
  2. ↑ Democratic Oversight of Intelligence Services. Daniel Baldino ed. Federation Press. 2010. Page 40.
  3. ↑ Jane Freeman, "The Hilton bombing," Sydney Morning Herald, 6 February 1995.
  4. ↑ Global Terrorism Database; Michael M. Gunter, p. 69.
  5. ↑ "Supremacist leader in court" theage.com.au. AAP. 7 August 2004. Retrieved 10 March 2015
  6. ↑ "1982 HAKOAH CLUB AND ISRAELI CONSULATE BOMBINGS HAVE BEEN REOPENED." JewishNews.net.au. 29 August 2012.
  7. ↑ "Hakoah bombing mystery re-opens." News.com.au 25 August 2012.
  8. ↑ "Police reopen 1982 Sydney bombings case." ABC News. Sunday 26 AUG 2012.
  9. ↑ Mercer, Neil. "Police have new lead in Hakoah Club bombing." Sydney Morning Herald. 12 September 2012.
  10. ↑ 16.Jump up ^ Greek Bulgarian armenian Front MIPT
  11. ↑ "French Consular Office in Australia Destroyed by Fire". Los Angeles Times. AP (Associated Press). 18 June 1995. Retrieved 29 January 2015.
  12. ↑ Williams, Clive (9 September 2006). "No, minister we are not free of terror". The Canberra Times.
  13. ↑ Terror suspects 'sought holy approval' -NAC - 04 Aug 2009
  14. ↑ A Teenage Terrorism Suspect Is Shot Dead in Australia After Attacking Police - publ 24 Sep 2014 - Time Mag
  15. ↑ Terrorists Plot Thwarted - ABC - 10 Feb 2015
  16. ↑ 24 Oct 2015
  17. ↑ http://www.sbs.com.au/news/article/2016/11/21/vic-fire-suspect-was-financial-strife
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