POLICE are expected to move within days against a group of terror suspects in Sydney and Melbourne after the Senate rushed through new anti-terror laws yesterday.
A group of radical Muslim youths linked to controversial Melbourne cleric Nacer Benbrika fear they will be arrested under the emergency legislation, which received vice-regal assent from Governor-General Michael Jeffery in Sydney last night.
Members of the group were raided by ASIO in June in connection with a suspected plot to attack prominent Melbourne landmarks, including a railway station and the Australian Stock Exchange in Collins Street.
At the time there was not enough evidence to arrest or charge any of the men but investigations have been continuing.
The group includes two men in Sydney, one of whom has allegedly been identified by a US terrorist informant who claimed to have met him at a military training camp that was run by the outlawed terrorist group Lashkar-e-Taiba.
The Sydney man is believed to be the key link between the two groups.
However, a second Sydney-based man, who had connections to a country NSW property that was watched by authorities before the Sydney Olympics, is also under suspicion.
In a special sitting yesterday, the Senate approved Government amendments to the criminal code designed to help police arrest people planning a terrorist attack.
While Labor backed the changes, the party warned the Government that it expected results. It fears that the publicity of recent days may have prejudiced police operations.
"We are concerned whether or not operational matters have been compromised," Opposition justice spokeswoman Nicola Roxon said yesterday.
"You don't want to be in the position where you are alerting people that might be subject to these laws."
In the Senate, the minor parties accused the Government of using national security for "political leverage" in order to divert attention from its industrial relations legislation.
The new law will allow people to be charged with terrorist offences even if they have not decided on a specific target for an attack.
John Howard and his senior ministers strongly denied yesterday that the decision to rush through amendments to the law had been designed to deflect criticism of the Government's industrial relations legislation.
"The idea that it was all manipulated is ridiculous, " the Prime Minister said.
Mr Howard said on Wednesday that he had received specific intelligence which "gives cause for serious concern about a potential terrorist threat".
Labor's John Faulkner told the Senate debate on the terror bill that Australia's involvement in the Iraq war had made the country less safe.