But any move to emulate the French tactics,
which will be considered at a summit of premiers and chief ministers
convened by John Howard next month, will face a backlash from
Australia's Muslim community and civil liberties groups.
Under a tough policy known as "active intolerance" or "offensive
harassment", French authorities use all legal means available to raid
the hangouts of suspected extremists and their associates, in some
cases acting without adequate proof.
This might mean raiding a restaurant under the guise of conducting a health inspection or a tax raid on a bookshop.
French officials have told The Economist magazine that the
practice has proved highly successful in disrupting terror networks and
thwarting potential bomb attacks, resulting in the detention of 200
people last year and eight prosecutions for terror-related offences.
France also has tougher laws than Australia for detaining
terror suspects without charge, gives judges much freer rein to detain
terrorist associates and is tougher on expelling hatred-preaching
clerics.
A spokesman for Attorney-General Philip Ruddock last night
confirmed that Australia was examining other countries' counter-terror
frameworks as part of an extensive review of Australian law in the wake
of last month's bomb attacks on London's transport system.
He said the French and Australian legal systems were completely
different and "anything Australia might borrow from countries such as
France would have to be modified for Australia's circumstances".
French ambassador to Australia Patrick Henault confirmed the US
and Australia had expressed interest in the French counter-terrorism
model. "We've had (terrorism) on our soil, we've suffered casualties
over the past 20 or 30 years, and we have a way of dealing with these
matters," he said.
But Australian Council for Civil Liberties national secretary
Cameron Murphy warned the Howard Government would be doing just what
the terrorists wanted in sanctioning French-style harassment tactics.
"The terrorists want to instil fear and for us to change our way of life," Mr Murphy told The Australian.
Waleed Kadous, head of the Australian Muslim Civil Rights
Advocacy Network, said sanctioning harassment would "backfire and
guarantee people were driven into the hands of the terrorist
recruiters".
Muslim groups are uniting around the country in an attempt to
issue to the wider public strong and clear condemnations of terrorist
attacks.
Australia's Muslim Shia community this week formed a body in
response to the London bombings charged with quickly and publicly
condemning future attacks that are wrongly claimed in the name of
Islam.
Other Muslim groups have also unified in recent weeks in
attempts to swiftly stem any backlash against local Muslims in the wake
of attacks and reinforce to the public that they too are opposed to
terrorism.
Muslims are often abused and vilified after terrorist attacks such as the London bombings.
The new body called the Australian Shia Muslim Network has hired
a public relations company to issue a press release denouncing the
London bombings and other attacks.
"Terrorism is legally, morally and explicitly wrong by Muslim principles," group spokesman Sydney Shiek Jehad Ismail said.
The Islamic Council of NSW has urged its communities to report any signs of local terrorism.
John Kerin and Trudy Harris
The Australian, 17 August 2005
