Community concerns about antisemitism have escalated on Thursday, as police reveal details of an investigation relating to a caravan packed with explosives at a property in Dural in Sydney’s north-west.
The explosives were found in the caravan on January 19 alongside a document with antisemitic sentiments and a list of targets, police said. The news was revealed to the public on Thursday.
The owner of the caravan is in custody and was previously arrested for other alleged offending, police confirmed today, and two people “on the periphery” of the investigation have already been arrested under Strike Force Pearl.
“It’s important that the public understands that not only has the caravan been removed and the contents been removed from the public but also the owner is out of play and in custody,” NSW Police Commissioner Karen Webb said.
“So the risk to the public has been mitigated early on.
Webb also confirmed there was no detonator found with the explosives in the caravan.
Speaking on Thursday, NSW Premier Chris Minns said the discovery had the potential of a “mass casualty event”.
“There’s only one way of calling it out, and that is terrorism. That’s what we’re very worried about. This would strike terror into the community, particularly the Jewish community, and it must be met with the full resources of the government,” Minns said.
Prime Minister Anthony Albanese said there was zero tolerance for hatred and antisemitism.
“We know that some people are in custody over issues related to this investigation,” Albanese said.
“There’s zero tolerance in Australia for hatred and for antisemitism and I want any perpetrators to be hunted down and locked up.”
The frightening discovery of the caravan also comes as there were three separate incidents of antisemitic graffiti overnight in Sydney. These took place at a school and neighbouring property in Maroubra, and in different sites at Eastgardens and Eastlakes.
The school in Maroubra which was targeted, Mount Sinai College, is located around the corner from a childcare centre which was set alight and graffitied with antisemitic words last week.
Labor MP Josh Burns, who is Jewish, said these events have caused widespread concern in the Jewish community.
“The Jewish community has a place in this country just like everybody else. We deserve to be safe and free from discrimination and violence,” Burns said in a statement.
Meanwhile, Liberal MP Julian Leeser has called for more security to be implemented at the major centres of Jewish community life.
“I think there clearly needs to be more patrols, there clearly needs to be more 24/7 people, armed guards and the like stationed outside community institutions and in the major centres of community life, I think we’ve got to that point at the moment,” Leeser told the ABC.
Feature image: NSW Police Commissioner Karen Webb.