The Prime Minister says the Government will not undermine Australia's fundamental freedoms to protect national security. John Howard says the Australian way of life is what fundamentalist terrorists seek to destroy and the Government must do whatever it can in its power to stop an attack. Mr Howard has responded to concerns that introducing new laws to stop radical preaching or inciting terrorism will limit Australia's basic freedoms.During Mr Howard's visit to London, he has said he will now consider adopting Britain's tough anti-terrorism laws. They include a crackdown on people who incite terrorism through religious teachings. Mr Howard has told Channel Ten it will not mean turning the country into a police state. "You have an obligation to the public to take whatever measures are reasonable and proper to protect the community and that is what I'm sure the overwhelming majority of Australians feel," he said. "They can rest assured and they know that no government is going to turn Australia into a police state in order to protect us against terrorist, we don't need to do that."
Mr Howard has accused some Islamic leaders in Australia of failing to denounce the latest terrorist attacks. The Islamic Council of Victoria says it accepts that Muslim leaders play an important role in discouraging extremism. A member of the Islamic Council's executive, Waleed Aly, says while Muslim leaders need to warn their communities about the dangers of extreme ideology, commonsense must prevail. "I do think though that we need to be very careful about overdramatising the situation and making assumptions," he said.
Mr Howard says he is worried that some leaders have made inflammatory remarks which have not been rebuked and he says that behaviour is unacceptable. He has criticised the Imam of Melbourne, Sheikh Mohammed Omran, describing his defence of Osama bin Laden as appalling. "I make no bones about saying it, when I hear one of the imams in Melbourne saying that in effect bin Laden is a good man and that the attacks in London were the responsibility of the Americans, I mean I think that is an appalling thing," he said.