By KATHRYN BERMINGHAM
LA TROBE MP Jason Wood has accused the seat’s Labor candidate of being “soft on terror” after Mr Wood’s anti-terrorism plan was criticised as being “irresponsible.”
Last month Mr Wood told Parliament that he looks forward to launching MYHACK, a program that will deter young people from violent extremism.
He said last week that Labor’s Simon Curtis opposed his approach in an effort to create political and community friction.
“For the Labor candidate to accuse me of scaremongering when we’ve had multiple local examples of the risk we face already, I wonder what it would take for him to take the threat of radicalisation seriously?
“Being weak on terrorism achieves absolutely nothing, so does he propose to do nothing and just hope for the best?
“Seeing this reaction from the Labor candidate, I have no choice but to assume he would not support proposed changes to citizenship or other counter terrorism measures.”
In an interview with the Gazette last week, Mr Curtis criticised the focus of the incumbent MP.
“I think we need to be careful that members of Parliament aren’t involved in a scaremonger,” Mr Curtis said.
“It’s an attack on Australians by Australians, and we need to do something about that, but labelling a particular demographic within an electorate as an ‘at-risk’ area is irresponsible.”
He also suggested that parliament should be focusing on more prevalent issues.
“It’s a good thing to have access, just as it is important to have access to information about domestic violence where far more people are being killed.
“Women are more likely to be killed at home by a partner than by a terrorist.
“Domestic violence is something far more prevalent in our community than terrorism. We need to see a better response by government on this.”
Mr Wood said to link anti-radicalisation programs and family violence was “politically irresponsible” and striped the issue of family violence prevention of the respect and focus it deserves.
“I take the matter of family violence incredibly seriously, and I do not choose to politicise it like others,” Mr Wood said.
“This week I met with Joanna Fletcher from Women’s Legal Service Victoria to discuss my aim to boost resources for those affected by family violence in La Trobe.”
Separating the two issues, he also said that he had taken the bi-partisan approach to the issue of anti-radicalisation and invited Holt MP Anthony Byrne to be involved in the innovative MYHACK program.
With the threat of terror on the rise, Victoria Police issued a statement on Friday confirming a new Taskforce has been set up to help monitor and manage people who may pose a risk to the security of Victorians.
Taskforce Pax will provide a more focused response to intelligence collection capabilities regarding people identified of “national security interest”.
Victoria Police is currently receiving approximately 300 calls per month regarding security threats, a huge increase from the 30 to 50 calls a month received previously.
This is attributed to recent terrorism related events including the elevation of the national terrorism threat level.
An inquest into the 2014 Sydney siege is also currently being held in the NSW Coroner’s Court.
What do you think? Is the threat of terrorism to the people of La Trobe being effectively managed? Get in contact at www.facebook.com/PakenhamGazette.
