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Opposition Leader Peter Dutton has refused to walk back scathing remarks made about Prime Minister Anthony Abanese's response to the discovery of a caravan filled with explosives after police revealed it was a terror hoax.
Dutton labelled Home Affairs Minister Tony Burke's remarks today as a "crass" political attack after he accused the Liberal leader of "deliberately" remaining in the dark on what police knew about the suspected terrorism plot.
Australian Federal Police yesterday revealed a caravan found at Dural in Sydney's north-west in January was "part of a fabricated terrorism plot" aimed at causing fear in the Jewish community and there was no risk of a mass casualty event.
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When public details about the caravan were still unclear, the opposition leader used the situation to criticise Albanese about his apparent lack of knowledge over the perceived terror plot, describing it as an "absolute abrogation of his responsibility".
The PM did not confirm when he was briefed on the caravan's discovery and did not provide an update on the investigation.
While Burke claimed Dutton had avoided requesting a briefing from authorities over the incident, the opposition leader said that was not the case.
"We requested a briefing on the 22 January. We requested everything about a week later," Dutton told media on the Gold Coast.
"At no time during those briefings on my discussions with the director-general of ASIO including on February 18, was there any mention of a hoax."
Dutton said Burke's accusation he had not attempted to learn more information was "complete and utter nonsense".
He had previously called for an independent inquiry into the caravan's discovery and subsequent investigation, and maintained that position today even with the incident now declared a "criminal con job" by federal police.
"If the prime minister knew this was a hoax and he didn't provide that advice to the Australian public then we need to understand why," Dutton added.
"I'm not aware that that is the case."
Burke claimed earlier today Dutton had not requested a briefing from the AFP after the caravan's discovery, which would have alleviated suspicion that a genuine terrorist attack was being planned.
"He deliberately chose to not find out," Burke told ABC Radio National.
"And so what we had was a situation where quite deliberately, Peter Dutton made a decision to not find out the facts from the Australian Federal Police, to ignore the advice from ASIO in lowering the temperature, simply because it suited his self-promotion ambitions."
The immigration minister said Dutton's public message about the caravan spurred on organised crime groups, who wanted to weaponise information about alleged antisemitic attacks to negotiate reduced sentences.
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"There are real consequences if you're not responsible with national security, and if he had to make a choice between self-promotion and national security, I'm pretty disappointed in the path that he chose," Burke said.
Dutton's office denied this claim and told 9news.com.au he was briefed on January 30 after it was requested by the opposition, not offered.
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Opposition home affairs spokesman James Paterson responded to Burke's accusation in a post on X.
"In a desperate attempt to distract from Labor's failures on national security Tony Burke has again misled the public," Paterson said
"The Opposition was briefed by the AFP on Thursday 30 Jan including myself, the Shadow AG and the Opposition Leader's office."
Paterson said in a separate post the concocted plot was still an extremely serious matter and that the PM should have been "promptly briefed" at the time.
The caravan loaded with explosives and antisemitic material was found in Dural on January 19, prompting an investigation under Operation Kissinger.
The AFP said any threat of a terrorist attack was mitigated "within hours" of the caravan being found.
"Almost immediately, experienced investigators within the JCTT believed that the caravan was part of a fabricated terrorism plot – essentially a criminal con job," AFP Deputy Commissioner National Security Krissy Barrett said in a statement.
"This was because of the information they already had, how easily the caravan was found and how visible the explosives were in the caravan. Also, there was no detonator."
Barrett said the caravan was concocted by criminals who "wanted to cause fear for personal benefit".
While no one has been arrested or charged in direct relation to the Dural caravan, police said they believe they know who was behind the plot.
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