Australia needs to be more agile to prevent radicalisation of children: Turnbull

Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull said in a meeting in Canberra on Thursday that the Australian security system needs to be more agile to deal with violent extremism and people who are turning children into terrorists. He also said that Australia will have no tolerance for extremism, urging Muslim leaders to cooperate in working to prevent the radicalisation of youths.

“This is a real home-grown threat, and it appals all Australians and it appals all Muslim Australians,” he told the Countering Violent Extremism summit in Canberra this morning. “The Muslim community are our absolutely necessary partners in this fight against extremism and we need to work very closely with them.”

The national meeting on tackling terrorism and extremism followed the deadly shooting outside the NSW police headquarters in Parramatta, which shocked the nation after the gunman turned out to be a 15-year-old boy. The Parramatta shooting that took place two weeks ago resulted in the death of police employee Curtis Cheng, who was shot in the head.

Since the incident, there have been reports of security agencies keeping watch on another 12-year-old boy for being possibly influenced by terrorists -- a sign of the extent of radicalisation on children and youth today.

“As we deal with these threats and the people that seek to turn children into terrorists, we have to be as agile as they are,” Turnbull said. “We have to be prepared to experiment and try new approaches.”

The prime minister also said that Australia has a diverse mix of groups and the only purpose of extremism is to turn one community against another. Turnbull underlined the value of mutual respect and urged all Australians to stand up for it.

He also pointed out the role played by the Internet in the radicalisation of children. He said that the officials must consider how to respond to the situation, while opposition leader Bill Shorten said a whole-of-community response is needed to deal with the growing threat.