Speaker 1: My name is Lily Maddon and I'm a proud Arunda
Speaker 1: Bunjelung Cargoton woman from Gadighl Country. The Daily oz acknowledges
Speaker 1: that this podcast is recorded on the lands of the
Speaker 1: Gadighl people and pays respect to all Aboriginal and Torres
Speaker 1: Strait Island and nations. We pay our respects to the
Speaker 1: first peoples of these countries, both past and present.
Speaker 2: Good morning and welcome to the Daily os. It's Monday,
Speaker 2: the sixth of November. I'm Sam and I am joined
Speaker 2: today for the very first time his podcast debut TDA
Speaker 2: journalist Harry Sekolitch.
Speaker 3: Thank you, Sam. I'm just so ecstatic to be here.
Speaker 3: It's so good to have a new voice on the pod.
Speaker 2: I mean, everyone loves the cast of characters we've got
Speaker 2: on the pot, but there's always room for one more.
Speaker 2: What are you going to bring us today?
Speaker 3: Well, a convicted terrorist who's been in jail for eighteen
Speaker 3: years has been given the green light to get back
Speaker 3: his Australian citizenship after it was canceled in twenty twenty.
Speaker 3: He plotted to blow up Australian landmark, but the High
Speaker 3: Court has found the punishment didn't fit the crime.
Speaker 4: Abdul Nassa Benbrika was convicted over terror plots, including one
Speaker 4: to attack the Lucas Heights nuclear reactor.
Speaker 3: So who is Abdul Nasir Benbrika? How is his citizenship
Speaker 3: taken away? And why has it now been reinstated. We'll
Speaker 3: let you know in the deep dive. But Fir Sam,
Speaker 3: what's making headlines?
Speaker 2: Victoria Police have confirmed five people have died after a
Speaker 2: car crashed into the beer garden at the Royal Hotel
Speaker 2: in Dalesford, which is northwest of Melbourne. According to police,
Speaker 2: a number of people are also injured.
Speaker 3: Schools in New Delhi have been forced to close due
Speaker 3: to severe levels of air pollution. All primary schools in
Speaker 3: the Indian capitol closed for two days, with the government
Speaker 3: calling an emergency meeting to discuss next steps. Air pollution
Speaker 3: is expected to worsen in the next fortnight, coinciding with
Speaker 3: factors like burnt crop remains by farmers and low winds.
Speaker 2: Anthony Alberanesi is in China in the first official visit
Speaker 2: by an Australian prime minister since twenty sixteen. Speaking in
Speaker 2: Shanghai yesterday, Albanesi said Chinese President Gi can expect a
Speaker 2: continuation of the patient, collaborated and deliberate way of engaging
Speaker 2: in Australia's national interests. A major focus of the trip
Speaker 2: will be the trading relationship between China and Australia, which
Speaker 2: may include the ending of long standing trade tariffs imposed
Speaker 2: by China.
Speaker 3: And the good news, scientists have discovered two pristine coral
Speaker 3: reefs in the waters surrounding the Galapagos Islands. The reefs
Speaker 3: has situated three hundred and seventy to four hundred and
Speaker 3: twenty meters below sea level, with one of the reefs
Speaker 3: spanning over eight hundred meters in length. The discovery has
Speaker 3: helped scientists expand their understanding of the reefs within the
Speaker 3: Galapagos Islands Marine Reserve. Okay Sam, Today we are talking
Speaker 3: about a convicted terrorist who had his citizenship taken away
Speaker 3: from him and then given back to him in a
Speaker 3: case that involved the highest court in Australia and Parliament.
Speaker 2: This is kind of bringing together all the kind of
Speaker 2: Netflix tropes I think terror plot, you know, conviction in
Speaker 2: the highest court of the land. Which country does this
Speaker 2: person belong to? But to take a step back from everything,
Speaker 2: who is abdulna Sir Benbrika and how did he end
Speaker 2: up originally behind bars?
Speaker 1: So?
Speaker 3: Ben Brica was born in Algeria in nineteen sixty and
Speaker 3: arrived in Australia when he was twenty nine. He became
Speaker 3: an Australian citizen nine years later. So he held dual
Speaker 3: citizenship in Algeria and Australia. And while it seems a
Speaker 3: bit weird to bring up all these details, they will
Speaker 3: become important later on, so keep that in the back
Speaker 3: of your mind. Ben Brica was arrested in two thousand
Speaker 3: and five in Melbourne as part of Australia's longest running
Speaker 3: terrorism investigation, code named Operation Pendennis. Was found to be
Speaker 3: part of an Islamist extremist group in Melbourne with ties
Speaker 3: to a similar group in Sydney.
Speaker 2: Abdul Nata Benbriker was of interest to Australian security agencies
Speaker 2: long before his arrest.
Speaker 4: For the first time it can be revealed that two
Speaker 4: terrorrist cells based in Melbourne and Sydney were working together
Speaker 4: plotting attacks around Australia.
Speaker 3: During Ben Breaker's trial, the Victorian Supreme Court heard evidence
Speaker 3: that Benbriker had spoken about plans to carry out a
Speaker 3: terrorist attack at the Melbourne Cricket ground, and he told
Speaker 3: a witness his terrorist group had intended to launch an attack
Speaker 3: at the AFL Grand Final, but they postponed plans due
Speaker 3: to security and funding issues. The witness said. Benbreker mentioned
Speaker 3: other possible targets including Melbourne's Crown Casino and the Grand
Speaker 3: Prix weekend. Benbriker was found guilty of three terrorism offenses,
Speaker 3: including charges related to directing the activities of a terror group,
Speaker 3: and was handed a fifteen year sentence.
Speaker 2: So that all happened in two thousand and five fifteen
Speaker 2: the year sentence takes us to twenty twenty. We're now
Speaker 2: in twenty twenty three, and obviously the story's back in
Speaker 2: the news. What happened in twenty twenty and why didn't
Speaker 2: he walk out of jail then?
Speaker 3: Yeah, So in twenty twenty, the Home Affairs Minister at
Speaker 3: the time, Peter Dutton, applied for Benbricard to come under
Speaker 3: what's known as a continuing detention order, basically asking for
Speaker 3: Benbricard to remain behind bars even after his sentence was over.
Speaker 3: This was partly based on a forensic psychologist assessment of
Speaker 3: Benbrika who she described as being at high risk of
Speaker 3: violent extremism. Around the same time, the Coalition government passed
Speaker 3: laws giving the Home Affairs Minister extra powers to cancel
Speaker 3: the citizenships of convicted terrorists who also happened to be
Speaker 3: dual citizens.
Speaker 2: So basically the picture you're painting for me here is
Speaker 2: you have someone who's finished their sentence and under this
Speaker 2: continuing detention order they're actually allowed to be continually detained.
Speaker 2: And at the same time as all of this, there's
Speaker 2: this question about his citizenship. What did Dutton do with
Speaker 2: that citizenship?
Speaker 3: So Peter Dutton came in and canceled Benbriker's citizenship after
Speaker 3: passing these laws.
Speaker 4: I canceled the Australian citizenship of convicted terrorist Abdul Messer Benbriker.
Speaker 4: He's the first individual to have lost his citizenship on
Speaker 4: shore under the terrorism related provisions of the Australian Citizenship.
Speaker 3: Back saying Ben Breeker continued to pose a risk to
Speaker 3: the Australian public and as a result he faced possible
Speaker 3: deportation back to Algeria. But the High Court struck down
Speaker 3: these laws two years later. The Court argued it was
Speaker 3: unconstitutional for a branch of government to punish criminal guilt,
Speaker 3: basically just saying the minister should stay in their lane
Speaker 3: and that it was the court's job and not the minister's,
Speaker 3: to decide whether Benbriker should have his citizenship canceled.
Speaker 2: And so when the High Court overturns those laws, what
Speaker 2: did that actually mean for Ben Breaker?
Speaker 3: So, after those laws were changed, Benbriker's lawyers used the
Speaker 3: decision to argue that the camp of his Australian citizenship
Speaker 3: was invalid and that it should be reinstated. And that
Speaker 3: brings us up to last week, a six to one
Speaker 3: majority in the High Court agreed with Benbriker's lawyers. They
Speaker 3: argued that in twenty twenty, Dutton had carried out a
Speaker 3: quote exclusively judicial function of punishing criminal guilt against Bembriker
Speaker 3: and that he should be given his Australian citizenship back.
Speaker 2: Well, Peter Dutton is no longer in power, of course,
Speaker 2: it's now Anthony Alberanezi and Peter Dutton, then Home Affairs Minister,
Speaker 2: is now the opposition leader. What does the current government
Speaker 2: say about all of this?
Speaker 3: Well, it's remarkably consistent. The Albanzer government actually wants to
Speaker 3: bring back those old laws stripping any dual citizen convicted
Speaker 3: of terrorism of their Australian citizenship. Prime Minister Anthony Alberanzi
Speaker 3: said the government will look closely at the High Court
Speaker 3: ruling on Benbrieker's citizenship and, in his words, respond appropriately.
Speaker 3: In a statement, the Home Affairs Minister Clara O'Neill said
Speaker 3: the government will examine the judgment and its implications in detail.
Speaker 3: So it looks like we'll be hearing more about the
Speaker 3: Ben Breaker High Court decision in the months and years ahead.
Speaker 2: But for now it looks like Ben Breaker will have
Speaker 2: his citizenship reinstated. What about this prison sentence. Is he
Speaker 2: currently behind bars?
Speaker 3: Well, he is behind bars, but the decision about his
Speaker 3: citizenship doesn't impact the continuing order of detention.
Speaker 2: So they're kind of two separate issues.
Speaker 3: Yeah, that's right. But while the citizenship case has played out,
Speaker 3: a separate legal case has been heard by a court
Speaker 3: in Victoria. So, as I mentioned, there was a continuing
Speaker 3: detention order in twenty twenty which allowed Benbriker to be
Speaker 3: held in prison for a further three years. But when
Speaker 3: nearing the end of that period of time, it's due
Speaker 3: to expire on December twenty three this year, and so
Speaker 3: the question has been what happens when the continuing detention
Speaker 3: order comes to an end. The Victorian Supreme Court is
Speaker 3: considering whether the continued detention order should be nude or
Speaker 3: whether Benbrika should be released under a control order.
Speaker 2: What's a control order?
Speaker 3: So a control order would mean that he would be released,
Speaker 3: but would be under strict surveillance with curfews, attracking device
Speaker 3: and provisions on who he can contact, as well as
Speaker 3: means of communication, so he might not even have access
Speaker 3: to a phone or Internet for example. It's worth noting
Speaker 3: that there is no legal limit on the amount of
Speaker 3: times that continuing detention order can be renewed.
Speaker 2: So it could conceivably go on forever.
Speaker 3: As a law states, yeah, that's right, and so if
Speaker 3: Benbrika is deemed to be a threat to the community,
Speaker 3: the Victorian courts will have grounds to keep him under
Speaker 3: those strict conditions. So it's unclear at the moment whether
Speaker 3: or not he'll be released from prison at the end
Speaker 3: of this year, but will keep you posted as more
Speaker 3: information comes to light regarding his citizenship and his detainment.
Speaker 2: I think you did pretty well for your first deep
Speaker 2: dive Harry, thank you so much and I'm looking forward
Speaker 2: to many more episodes with you in future.
Speaker 3: Thank you, Sam, it's been a pleasure to chat with you.
Speaker 2: And thank you for joining us today on The Daily Ods.
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