Home Affairs Official Warns of ‘Hybrid’ Threats That Combine Terror, Gangs, and State Power

Once 3 very separate threats to Australia’s security, the lines between state actors, terrorism, and gangs are increasingly blurring, a security expert warns.

Damage is seen following a firebombing at the Adass Israel Synagogue in Melbourne, Australia on Dec. 9, 2024. AAP Image/Yumi Rosenbaum

BRISBANE, Australia—Following revelations Iran hired criminal gangs to carry out anti-Semitic arson attacks in Australia, a senior Home Affairs official has spoken of the increasing “convergence” of different criminal elements.

Hamish Hansford, head of national security at Home Affairs, told the Australian Institute of International Affairs that in the years after Sept. 11, security agencies created “massive infrastructure” to combat the threat of terrorism.