Jewish leaders say they were left in the dark about explosive-laden caravan found in northwest Sydney

A prominent Jewish leader says the community was not told about an explosive-laden caravan containing the address of a synagogue found on a Sydney property earlier this month and only found out about it when news leaked on Wednesday.

The remarks undercut a Sunrise interview with NSW Premier Chris Minns on Thursday, where he appeared to suggest communication has been taking place on a “daily basis” with Jewish community leaders.

WATCH THE VIDEO ABOVE: NSW Premier Chris Minns addresses caravan secrecy.

The caravan was reportedly abandoned on the side of Derriwong Rd at Dural, north of Sydney, on January 19.

The amount of Powergel explosives discovered inside it could create a 40m blast wave, police said.

It is believed the explosives were likely stolen from a mining site. Arrests have been made “on the periphery” of the case, police have said.

NSW Police are investigating alongside the Australian Federal Police (AFP), the Australian Security Intelligence Organisation (ASIO) and the Joint Counter Terrorism Team.

On Thursday, Co-CEO of the Executive Council of Australian Jewry, Peter Wertheim, fronted the media where he was asked when leaders in the community were told of the caravan discovery.

“When we read about it in the media — (that is) the first any of us knew about it, was when we read about it in the media,” Wertheim said.

“My organisation is an umbrella body for 200 major Jewish organisations across Australia.

“These are all of the bodies that have regular engagement with government and police on matters of relevance to us, for our community.

“I’ve checked. None of us were aware of this beforehand.”

On Thursday, Sunrise host Matt Shirvington asked NSW Premier Chris Minns why the wider public was kept in the dark after the caravan was found. News of the discovery was leaked to the media on Wednesday.

“This happened on 20th January. On 21st January you were standing in front of a firebombed childcare centre with Anthony Albanese. That’s 10 days ago. At any point did you think maybe the public need to know about a caravan laden with explosives?” Shirvington asked Minns.

“Matt, we would let the public know immediately unless it compromised the police investigation,” Minns shot back.

“I want to make it clear, if a counter-terrorism investigation began this afternoon I wouldn’t issue a media release unless NSW Police told me that is what we needed to do for the inquiry.

“These are complicated inquiries. There are over 100 police officers these are with the counter-terrorism community in NSW.

“I have confidence in their experience and expertise in relation to this because they have foiled terrorist attack after terrorist attack and kept Australia safe for over 20 years or 25 years since September 11.

“So, these are difficult decisions, I am not suggesting otherwise, but there is a massive police inquiry that is taking place and police should be able to continue those inquiries.

“They make a decision that this needs to be done behind the scenes without talking about methods and tactics that they deploy ... There is a very simple reason for that. So, the criminals don’t know what the police are getting up to.”

Shirvington noted there had been six anti-Semitic incidents in the last two months.

“How concerned are you that this has gotten to the point where people are filling a caravan with explosives? This is next level, isn’t it?” he asked Minns.

“I’ll level with you, I am very concerned. I wish I could come on the program this morning and say it was all over and the threat was extinguished, but that is not the case.

“This is an escalation. The NSW Police are putting enormous resources into combating it. It is not the society of Australia we want to live in. Bad motives, bad ideologies, bad ethics, bad morals.

“We need to confront them. Civil society needs to stand up and say we will never tolerate this sort of racism and violence in Australia in 2025 but it is not over. These inquiries will continue.

“The only thing I can promise is police will capture the people who are responsible for it.”

“I have got to ask you, there were a list of tags in that caravan as well. Will we know those targets? Have they been notified?” Shirvington asked.

“Communication has taken place, if not on a daily basis just about that time over the last 12 months,” Minns said.

“We take this incredibly seriously. I know this is distressing for the Jewish community, for every Australian because this is opposite to the kind of country we want to live.

“If I want to say that most Australians are against this and find it disgusting and deplorable and, secondly, we will leave no stone unturned until the people are caught.”