4 November 2010

Australia Counter-radicalisation Efforts

From: "Gleeson, Daniel" <Daniel.Gleeson[at]ag.gov.au>
Date: Thu, 4 Nov 2010 10:38:37 +1100
Subject: ATTORNEY-GENERAL ROBERT McCLELLAND - TRANSCRIPT OF INTERVIEW - 4 NOVEMBER 2010 [SEC=UNCLASSIFIED]

UNCLASSIFIED

ATTORNEY-GENERAL HON ROBERT McCLELLAND MP

INTERVIEW WITH LINDA MOTTRAM FOR RADIO AUSTRALIA

THURSDAY, 4 NOVEMBER 2010

Subject: Counter-radicalisation efforts

LINDA MOTTRAM: I just wanted to ask you about the status of counter-radicalisation efforts in Australia. How much of an effort is the government making at the national and at the state level at this stage?

ROBERT McCLELLAND: Look it s a real priority, in the national security white paper it was identified as a real priority, so for the first time we have established a dedicated unit in the Attorney-General s Department. That has seconded to it officers from other departments and agencies. So we are building those connections. The states have been doing some good work, indeed one of the first things we did at a federal level was to audit the work that is already being undertaken by the states, including state police forces but also other agencies and indeed some community groups themselves. I think it is fair to say that Australia has been too slow in getting in to this space, compared to other countries, but it is well and truly a priority for the federal government.

MOTTRAM: Can you describe what your understanding is, of the process of radicalisation amongst some young Australian Muslims?

McCLELLAND: It varies, it s difficult to generalise, but it is not different to the path towards crime, to the criminal route. It quite frequently comes from a dysfunctional family background, it may well be that they have personal problems in their lives, often involved in a history of substance abuse or petty crime, looking for meaning in their lives, and in that circumstance, young men, particularly young men can be vulnerable to the influence of so called charismatic figures who will exploit their vulnerability. Or it can be, in some circumstances highly educated people who are attracted to the cause of violent radical extremism. It s hard to draw a universal image, but more commonly it is a young person coming from a dysfunctional, alienated background with some sort of personal or social issue that makes them vulnerable to being exploited by a so called charismatic leader who manipulates them into being part of a violent enterprise.

MOTTRAM: Of course we have seen political violence in Australia across many years, not a great deal thank goodness, but we have seen it over many years in many forms, in the two thousands, it clearly has a jihadist focus. Is that where the focus of your efforts is in counter-radicalisation?

McCLELLAND: Well it is looking at it across the spectrum, clearly it would be naive not to say that, clearly, a focus is on that violent form of jihadism.

MOTTRAM: And so what kind of programs are you looking at as part of that strategy?

McCLELLAND: Well there are a variety of programs, but it seems from the stock take we ve done, some of the best programs, when we re actually focussing on individuals, is to use a variety of means to identify those individuals at risk and to build around them support structures and in particular, mentoring programs. The Victoria Police for instance is undertaking a very worthwhile program with youths that have come from Somalia, and in terms of their dysfunctional family background, literally in their case, quite often they don t have a family background. So the mentoring role can be particularly important, looking at the support services around them, looking at educational opportunities, employment opportunities, just connecting to the broader society and in that context, I should also add that some sporting organisations are also playing a very valuable role in terms of providing those broader links to the community.

MOTTRAM: So this is very much bottom up, as much as it is top down?

McCLELLAND: There s two levels. Certainly maintaining community harmony is at the broader level, but to be effective, looking at overseas experience, the countering violent extremism has to focus on pinpointing individual establishments, whether they are religious institutions or a breakaway religious institution, but then identifying the, most frequently, youths at risk . Looking at what is happening around their lives and working with their families and indeed, working with them. So that s fine tuning and pinpointing, and that s really the art of it, in terms of having real impact.

MOTTRAM: And how will you measure success?

McCLELLAND: Yes, well that is also a point of debate there s two things to be up front about, there s no tried and true method that applies across all aspects. In many ways it s still developing the practices and the methods and measuring the success of those methods is also a challenge. But ultimately the success will be evaluating the destiny of these individuals who interact with the program, to look at the course that they take in their life path. Whether they move on to a career or community involvement, which may well be an activist one that is entirely acceptable, expressing a point of view that they may hold, and hold sincerely, as opposed to adopting violent means to achieve that point of view.