7 OCT 2026Wakeley Church Stabbing
7 OCT 2026 Launch of The Muslim Vote
On 1 July 2024 an unnamed spokesperson for The Muslim Vote told the ABC that the "grassroots" campaign group was formed to "mobilise the Muslim community to vote as a bloc in the next federal election, predominantly on the issue of justice in Palestine". The ABC reported that it "appears to be linked to Muslim Votes Matter, an entity registered with the Australian Tax Office since February". The spokesperson claimed over 2,000 volunteers and named target seats: Blaxland, Watson, McMahon and Werriwa.
On 4 July 2024 the ABC named Sheikh Wesam Charkawi as "one of its convenors". It reported that the campaign "began last year in the aftermath of the October 7 attack on Israel". Charkawi said The Muslim Vote was not a political party, and said: "You can't be neutral on a genocide." The Guardian reported that the group "denies being a political party and says it does not intend to become one". The group's own website says the same: "The Muslim Vote is not a political party, and it does not intend to become one in the future."
The SMH (1 Mar 2025) referred to "the November launch of The Muslim Vote". It reported that activist Assala Sayara was "a keynote speaker" there, and that "Sayara does not hold a formal position" in the movement.
At the 3 May 2025 federal election, its endorsed independents in Blaxland (Ahmed Ouf) and Watson (Ziad Basyouny) won large primary votes, but Labor held both seats (ABC, 9 May 2025). This should not be confused with Muslim Votes Matter, a separate group that launched its national campaign on 1 Sep 2024 (Guardian).
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7 OCT 2026 Wesam Charkawi paper on Muslim trust in government
The paper "examines the level of trust among Muslims in Australia towards the Government and its institutions", with "particular emphasis on the government's approach to countering violent extremism programs". It draws on "A survey of Australian Muslims (N= 505)", run online in June 2023. The abstract states: "The findings show high levels of distrust towards the government and its institutions, which has flow-on effects, particularly in countering violent extremism."
The paper reports that "more than half (60%) of respondents reported that they do not trust the Australian government". It also says "even more (70%) reported that they believe that the government does not care about them", and that "Most respondents (85%) in the sample agree that the Australian government's handling of terrorism has marginalised the Australian Muslim community."
It also reports: "Nearly 25% of respondents (113 out of 453) who answered positively to discrimination (based on ethnic or religious background) also had sympathy for ISIS while not agreeing with their methods", and "15% (68 out of 453) said that ISIS's violent acts were justified against the West and its allies." It also reports that "Nearly 55% of respondents who answered positively to discrimination (249 out of 453) disagreed with sympathy for ISIS." Its conclusion calls for "shifting the focus from one of law, surveillance and over-policing to a community approach, promoting local ownership and community-led projects."
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7 OCT 2026 Hezbollah leader Nasrallah mourned at Sydney and Melbourne rallies
Hezbollah leader Nasrallah was killed in an Israeli airstrike on Beirut, and his death was confirmed on Saturday 28 September 2024. At a large rally at Sydney Town Hall the next day, the SMH reported, "Many of those attending the protest in Sydney held placards that mourned Nasrallah's death". In Melbourne, a small group waved the Hezbollah flag and others carried framed photographs of him. Hezbollah is a listed terrorist organisation in Australia.
Home Affairs Minister Tony Burke said "any indication of support for a terrorist organisation is unequivocally condemned". Prime Minister Anthony Albanese said: "We do not want people to bring radical ideologies of conflict here." The SMH reported that both said the federal government did not mourn Nasrallah. It also reported that "a handful of mosques" held vigils that week for Nasrallah and for civilians killed in strikes. The Shia Muslim Council of Australia said: "It is in this context that the Muslim community is attending protests and holding mourning ceremonies."
NSW Police charged a 19-year-old woman with causing the public display of a prohibited terrorist organisation symbol at the Sydney rally (Guardian, 2 Oct 2024). The AFP charged a Ferntree Gully man, 36, on 13 December 2024 and summonsed a Broadmeadows man, 34, on 6 February 2025, both over Hezbollah flags at the Melbourne protest. As at December 2024 the AFP said 13 people remained under investigation.
Iran's ambassador, Ahmad Sadeghi, called Nasrallah a martyr and "unparalleled leader" on social media. Albanese responded: "The government condemns any support for terrorist organisations such as Hezbollah. We condemn the ambassador's comments" (ABC, 4 Oct 2024).
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The Australian, 30 September 2024: Hezbollah flags and framed photographs of Nasrallah in Sydney and Melbourne; the chant, translated, means "at your service, Nasrallah". Home Affairs Minister Tony Burke warned he would consider cancelling the visas of anyone who incites discord. (original on YouTube)
7 OCT 2026 Adass Israel synagogue arson, Melbourne
Shortly after 4am on Friday 6 December 2024, a fire was deliberately lit at the Adass Israel Synagogue in Ripponlea, in Melbourne's south-east, and worshippers inside for early prayers had to flee (ABC). One person was injured (BBC). CCTV released by the Victorian Joint Counter Terrorism Team (JCTT) shows a blue VW Golf parking outside the main entrance. Three masked people get out, damage the entrance with an axe, pour liquid from red jerry cans inside and set it alight. Police say the Golf was a stolen car with cloned plates that had been used in other crimes (AFP, Victoria Police and ASIO joint release).
On 9 December 2024, the matter was handed to the JCTT, made up of Victoria Police, the AFP and ASIO. AFP Deputy Commissioner Krissy Barrett said: "This is now a terrorism investigation." The JCTT said the attack was likely politically motivated (ABC; AFP). Under Operation Hilfield, the JCTT charged a Melton South man, 20, on 16 July 2025 over the alleged theft of the car. It charged a Werribee man, 21, on 30 July 2025 and a Meadow Heights man, 20, on 21 August 2025. A third alleged arsonist, an Airport West man aged 20, was charged on 19 June 2026. All three alleged arsonists face arson, conduct endangering life and theft of a motor vehicle under the Crimes Act 1958 (Vic). No terrorism charge is listed in the AFP release. The matters are before the courts.
On 26 August 2025, Prime Minister Anthony Albanese and Home Affairs Minister Tony Burke said ASIO assessed that the Iranian Government was behind the synagogue attack and the attack on Lewis' Continental Kitchen in Sydney. Iran's ambassador and three other Iranian diplomats were told they would be expelled. Australia suspended operations at its embassy in Tehran, and the government said it would legislate to list the IRGC as a terrorist organisation. In June 2026, AFP Assistant Commissioner Peter Crozier said the investigation "does have international connections" (ABC).
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7 OCT 2026 Crocus City Hall attack, Moscow
On the evening of 22 March 2024, gunmen in camouflage attacked Crocus City Hall in Krasnogorsk, on the north-western edge of Moscow, just before the rock group Picnic was due to perform. The BBC reported that much of the building was engulfed by fire and part of the roof collapsed. The day after the attack, Russian security services put the toll at 133 dead. The Islamic State group claimed responsibility, and a US official told the ABC that the US had intelligence confirming the claim and had warned Russia beforehand.
On 12 March 2026, Moscow's Second Western District Military Court convicted 19 people. AP reported that 15 received life sentences, one was given 22½ years and three were given 19 years and 11 months each. The four men convicted as the gunmen were identified as citizens of Tajikistan. The trial was held behind closed doors, and the BBC noted that when the men first appeared in court, two years earlier, they "showed visible signs of having been beaten". At the time of the verdict, AP and the BBC both put the death toll at 149; AP said over 600 people were wounded, while the BBC said more than 500 were injured. The BBC said IS-K, an Islamic State affiliate, admitted the attack. Russian officials claimed Ukraine was involved, which AP said they did "without presenting evidence", and Kyiv denied any involvement.
The attack was reported in Australia by the ABC.
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“The Butcher of Tehran” (Ebrahim Raisi) celebrated in Australia
Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi died when his helicopter crashed in mountains in north-west Iran on Sunday 19 May 2024, along with Foreign Minister Hossein Amir-Abdollahian (SBS; ABC). Iran declared five days of mourning.
The ABC reported that Raisi became deputy prosecutor of Tehran in 1981. "There, he earned the fearsome nickname, the Butcher of Tehran." It said he "was one of four judges who sat on a prosecution committee in the 1980s that is believed to have ordered the executions of thousands of political prisoners". SBS said: "For human rights advocates, Iran's former president Ebrahim Raisi was also known as the 'Butcher of Tehran'." Raisi repeatedly denied his role. In 2021 he said: "If a judge, a prosecutor, has defended the security of the people, he should be praised … I am proud to have defended human rights in every position I have held so far" (ABC).
Reuters, republished by the ABC, reported that government loyalists in Iran mourned him, while "opponents even posted furtive videos online of people passing out sweets to celebrate his death".
In Australia, Senator Claire Chandler urged the government to boycott a UN General Assembly tribute to "the man known to many Iranians as the Butcher of Tehran" (her own statement; the page carries no date).
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Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh celebrated in Australia
Ismail Haniyeh, the political leader of Hamas, was killed in Tehran in the early hours of 31 July 2024. Hamas blamed Israel, which did not comment, and no one immediately claimed responsibility (ABC). Iranian media reported he was killed at 2am local time (8.30am AEST) at "a special residence for war veterans in north Tehran" (SMH).
Haniyeh had attended the swearing-in of Iran's new president the day before. The ABC reported that in May 2024 the ICC prosecutor had sought arrest warrants for Haniyeh and Yahya Sinwar, as well as Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.
In Australia, SBS reported analysis from former Australian ambassador to Lebanon Ian Parmeter, who said the risk of a wider war was "closer than ever before".
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Hamas leader Yahya Sinwar celebrated in Australia
After the Israeli military said it had killed Hamas leader Yahya Sinwar in southern Gaza, Prime Minister Anthony Albanese said Sinwar "was a terrorist and the architect of the atrocities committed on October 7". Opposition Leader Peter Dutton said: "The world is a safer place without evil terrorists like Yahya Sinwar" (SBS, 18 Oct 2024).
The SMH reported on 1 Mar 2025 that Assala Sayara, a Sydney activist and keynote speaker at the November 2024 launch of The Muslim Vote, attended a rally in Jordan on 14 December 2024 marking the anniversary of Hamas's founding. The SMH said videos and her Instagram "show her next to demonstrators holding photographs of assassinated Hamas leader Yahya Sinwar and its founder Ahmad Yasin". It added: "Sayara was not holding such material; she held a Palestinian flag". It also wrote: "There is no suggestion that Sayara supports terrorist violence, only that she attended a rally for an organisation that does." This event took place in Jordan, not Australia.
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Sydney teen terror plot
On 24 April 2024, nine days after the Wakeley church stabbing, more than 400 officers from the NSW Joint Counter-Terrorism Team executed 13 search warrants across south-west Sydney and arrested seven teenagers. They were reported to be associates of the 16-year-old charged over the stabbing of Bishop Mar Mari Emmanuel, and police alleged they "adhere to a religiously motivated violent extremist ideology" (ABC News, 24-26 April 2024).
According to a police fact sheet tendered to court and reported by The Daily Telegraph, the teens were alleged to have described themselves as "soldiers of Allah", talked about obtaining guns including a "shotty", looked for abandoned homes to use as stash houses for a "kuffar plan", and listed Jewish people as targets.
Two days after the raids, on 26 April 2024, the Australian National Imams Council, the Alliance of Australian Muslims and the Australian Muslim Advocacy Network issued a joint statement calling for an inquiry into the raids, citing "the lack of evidence pointing to a concrete threat or plan among these youths", and for the term "religiously motivated terrorism" to be removed from Australia's terrorism laws. Their spokeswoman, Ramia Abdo Sultan, said: "The presumption that terrorism is inherently tied to religion is not only inaccurate but also harmful." ASIO said the term allows it to "accurately categorise" a security threat and that it "does not investigate people because of their religious views". NSW Premier Chris Minns said: "we do need to confront religious extremism".
On 2 October 2026, four of the teenagers, all minors at the time and unable to be named, pleaded guilty in the NSW Supreme Court to conspiring to prepare a terrorist attack, The Daily Telegraph reported. They are due to be sentenced in 2027. Earlier, in the Children's Court, two had pleaded guilty to sharing violent extremist material and one to supplying a firearm.
More sources:
- ABC News - Seven children arrested in counter-terrorism raids (24 April 2024)
- ABC News - Islamic groups call for review of Sydney counterterrorism raids (video, 26 April 2024)
- The Daily Telegraph - New details of alleged Islamic teen plot (Derrick Krusche, 29 April 2024)
- The Daily Telegraph - Sydney teens enter pleas to thwarted terror plot (Alexi Demetriadi, 3 October 2026)
Introduction
On 15 April 2024, during a livestreamed service at Christ the Good Shepherd Church in Wakeley, in Western Sydney, a 16-year-old attacked the presiding prelate, Bishop Mar Mari Emmanuel, and Father Isaac Royel with a knife. The bishop suffered lacerations to his head and had surgery. A 39-year-old man was cut and injured his shoulder when he intervened.
The church's own broadcast captured the attack, and the footage spread online within minutes. Inside the church, parishioners pinned the teenager down until police arrested him.
The crowd outside
The teenager was kept inside the church. Outside, a crowd gathered. Police Commissioner Karen Webb put it at "between 50 to 500 people". NSW Ambulance Commissioner Dominic Morgan said it grew "from 50 to a number of hundred of people in a very rapid period of time". Footage shows the crowd chanting "bring him out, bring him out!"
The crowd threw bricks, concrete and palings at police. Six paramedics were trapped inside the church for three and a half hours. Commissioner Webb later said 51 police officers were injured. Twenty police vehicles were damaged, 10 of them beyond use.
The terrorism declaration
Early on 16 April, Commissioner Webb declared the stabbing a terrorist incident, with the support of ASIO. Premier Chris Minns said the classification was due to "religiously motivated" language used during the attack. Prime Minister Anthony Albanese said: "There is no place for violence in Australia", and called on people not to impede and injure police doing their duty.
Joint counter-terrorism raids followed. Several of the attacker's associates were charged with conspiring to plan or prepare a terrorist act.
The bishop lost an eye. The teenager was charged with committing a terrorist act and with the attempted murder of Bishop Emmanuel. In February 2026 the ABC reported that he had been diagnosed with schizophrenia, and that his lawyers were seeking an assessment of whether he was having a psychotic episode at the time of the attack and whether he is fit to stand trial. The case has not yet been decided.
The bishop
On 18 April the bishop released an audio message. He said: "I will always pray for you. And whoever sent you to do this, I forgive them as well". He told his followers: "I need you to act Christ-like. The Lord Jesus never taught us to fight. The Lord Jesus never taught us to retaliate".
Government Response
The NSW Government gave police “wanding” powers to scan people for knives in designated areas without a warrant or suspicion, modelled on Queensland's Jack's Law. Premier Chris Minns said the changes followed a series of knife attacks, including the Bondi Junction attack, the Wakeley stabbing and a fatal stabbing in Blacktown.
The eSafety Commissioner ordered X, formerly Twitter, to remove footage of the stabbing worldwide, saying it showed explicit, gratuitous violence. A legal fight over global jurisdiction followed in the Federal Court. On 5 June 2024 the eSafety Commissioner dropped the case.
The attack came two days after the Bondi Junction mass stabbing.
Summary
On 15 April 2024, a 16-year-old stabbed Bishop Mar Mari Emmanuel and Father Isaac Royel during a livestreamed service in Wakeley. Parishioners held him down inside the church. Outside, a crowd chanted for him to be brought out, and attacked police. Fifty-one officers were injured, and paramedics were trapped inside for hours.
The Police Commissioner declared it a terrorist incident, and several of the attacker's associates were charged with terrorism offences. The eSafety Commissioner tried to force X to remove the footage worldwide, but later dropped the case.
Three days after the attack, the bishop forgave him and told his followers not to retaliate.
You be the judge.
