Albanese clashes with Karl Stefanovic over alleged terror plot

Anthony Albanese has clashed with Karl Stefanovic over when he was briefed about an alleged anti-Semitic terror plot in Sydney. 

The Prime Minister reportedly had not been informed about the discovery of an explosive-laden caravan until just before it was made public on January 29, ten days after the initial discovery. 

In an interview with the Today show on Thursday morning, Stefanovic suggested that Albanese "must have been absolutely livid” that he was not notified earlier. 

The Prime Minister responded: “Now you’re making an incredible assumption there, Karl." 

“What’s important here is that we don’t play politics with national security.

“And when it comes to a range of the issues related to the anti-Semitic attacks, what I haven’t done is go out there and reveal intelligence.”

Stefanovic pushed on asking Albanese if he would support an  inquiry into whether there “was an embarrassing communications failure”, to which the Prime Minister shot back with: “So stop the investigations?” 

“Stop doing the work to track down the perpetrators of these crimes and engage in politics?”

He continued: “Do you think that that is a sensible use of resources?”

Stefanovic said it deserved "some focus", adding: “If the prime minister of this country is not told about something of this magnitude ... I’d be scratching my head going ... ‘why not?’” 

But Albanese shut him down by saying what was “important is tracking down the perpetrators of these crimes”.

“I find it frankly absurd that people think, for example, that resources should be diverted, that the AFP (Australian Federal Police) and intelligence agencies should be engaged in a political process rather than doing their job,” he said.

“And you know what my job is, Karl? It’s really simple. It’s to back our authorities to do their job. All right. And that’s what I do.”

Police discovered the caravan in Dural, Sydney, with authorities saying that it was packed with mining explosives. 

They have also allegedly found a list of targets, which reportedly included the Great Synagogue in Sydney’s CBD and the Sydney Jewish Museum.

Image: Nine