Anthony Albanese won’t reveal when he was briefed about foiled anti-Semitic caravan terror plot

Anthony Albanese has refused to reveal when he was first briefed about the discovery of a caravan laden with explosives after reports emerged he had been left in the dark.

Police foiled the suspected anti-Semitic terror plot on January 19, after a local Dural resident who had moved the caravan to their property alerted authorities, but it did not become public knowledge until January 29 when The Daily Telegraph broke the story.

On Friday, the Sydney paper reported NSW Police had not deemed it “necessary” to inform the Prime Minister immediately – despite Premier Chris Minns being briefed on the situation on January 20.

Nine newspapers reported the discovery had not been discussed at last week’s national cabinet, or the national security committee of federal cabinet.

Deputy Opposition leader Sussan Ley said the PM needed to come clean about when he knew about the caravan plot.

“What is going on here?... Why is the Prime Minister so out of the loop when it comes to critical issues of national security?” she said on Friday morning.

Asked repeatedly at a press conference, Mr Albanese would not be drawn on when he was first briefed, saying it was protocol not to speak about operational matters.

“I have no intention of undermining an ongoing investigation by going into the details… What I will do is continue to prioritise two things: The first and most important is keeping Australians safe, the second is making sure I provide support to the police and intelligence agencies for them to do their job,” he said.

“I do not talk about operational matters for an ongoing investigation.”

Mr Albanese said the timing of when he had been briefed “should not be the source of political debate”.

“The idea that you make public pronouncements about something that is an ongoing investigation is, of course, entirely inappropriate because, as the police have made very clear, both state and federal, the priority is those ongoing investigations,” he said.

The national security committee of federal cabinet was briefed on Thursday morning, when federal authorities provided updates to the PM and other ministers about the investigation.

Australia’s chief domestic spy agency, ASIO, issued a rare public statement on Thursday to advise the national terrorism threat level remained at “probable”.

Director-general Mike Burgess said the foiled terror plot added weight to his warning in August, when he raised the level, that a spike in politically motivated violence was anticipated.

“Unfortunately, the security environment has evolved almost exactly as we expected,” he said.