The discovery of a caravan packed with explosives earlier this year led to concerns about a possible terrorism attack, criticism of the police and media, and a fierce political debate about the federal government’s response to antisemitism.
On Monday, Australian police said the caravan was part of a “fake terrorism plot” allegedly orchestrated by organised criminals for personal gain.
What do we know about who is behind it?
What happened at the time?
In January, a caravan containing explosives was discovered in Dural on the outskirts of Sydney. Inside the caravan were threats directed towards the Jewish community.
An investigation was launched by state and federal police, along with the domestic spy agency, given concerns the caravan could indicate a looming terrorist attack.
Ten days after the investigation was launched, the caravan’s existence was first revealed by the Daily Telegraph, prompting criticism of police for not immediately disclosing its discovery. That criticism has been rejected by senior police, who have alleged media reporting undermined their investigations. The newspaper’s crime editor said that criticism was “unfair” and that it would “never compromise an investigation”.
After the investigation became public, the Coalition accused the Albanese government of being too slow to request a briefing on the discovery. Senior Coalition figures accused the prime minister of being “out of his depth” on national security and antisemitisim.
What do we know now?
On Monday, the Australian federal police said the caravan was “never going to cause a mass casualty event” and was a “fake terrorism plot”.
The force’s deputy commissioner Krissy Barrett said this was known by police at a very early stage of the investigation.
“Almost immediately, experienced investigators within the joint counter-terrorism team believed that the caravan was part of a fabricated terrorist plot, essentially a … con job,” Barrett said.
“This was because [of] … how easily the caravan was found and how visible the explosives were in the caravan. Also, there was no detonator.”
So who did this?
Police allege the “con job” was fabricated by organised crime figures for personal benefit. They said these undisclosed figures were based in Australia and offshore.
Guardian Australia understands authorities believe there is one individual pulling the strings at the top of a chain of command, with a second layer below them of other individuals involved in organised crime, who are soliciting people to carry out acts.
Barrett said on Monday there were “several people” with different levels of involvement in the fake terrorism plot.
“Put simply, the plan was the following: organise for someone to buy a caravan, place it with explosives and written material of antisemitic nature, leave it in a specific location and then, once that happened, inform law enforcement about an impending terror attack against Jewish Australians.
“We believe the person pulling the strings wanted changes to their criminal status but maintained a distance from their scheme and hired alleged local criminals to carry out parts of their plan.”
Barrett said an “AFP operational strategy is in place to take action against this individual”.
The New South Wales police deputy commissioner David Hudson on Monday alleged the “caravan job” was conducted “by the same individual or individuals” who orchestrated other antisemitic graffiti and arson attacks across Sydney.
Why would they do this?
The motivation is understood to be to create plots that incarcerated criminals could use to tip off law enforcement in order to reduce their sentences. They also wanted to distract police and divert resources away from organised crime.
Hudson alleged on Monday it “was about causing chaos within the community, causing threat, causing angst, diverting police resources away from their day jobs, to have them [police] focus on matters that would allow them [criminals] to get up to or engage in other criminal activity”.
None of those arrested to date over alleged antisemitic attacks in Sydney had displayed any antisemitic ideology, Hudson said.
Barrett alleged criminals were “paying others to carry out antisemitic or ‘terrorism’ incidents to get our attention and divert our resources”, with alleged offenders “accepting these tasks for money”.
What are politicians saying?
The NSW premier, Chris Minns, and his police minister, Yasmin Catley, said that despite the revelations the caravan plot was concocted, it had struck fear in the Jewish community.
The federal home affairs minister, Tony Burke, accused the Coalition opposition of politicising the government’s response. In a post on X, he said the opposition leader, Peter Dutton, had “played directly into the hands of organised crime figures who have been trying to profit from dividing our community”.
But the shadow home affairs minister, James Paterson, stood by the Coalition’s criticisms that the prime minister should have been briefed on the caravan at an earlier stage.
“Organised crime concocting terrorism plots targeting the Jewish community is an extremely serious matter,” Paterson said.
How have Jewish groups responded?
David Ossip, the president of the NSW Jewish Board of Deputies, said confirmation the caravan incident was a “con job” should not in any way diminish the summer of fear and anxiety that the Jewish community experienced.
“The criminals who allegedly arranged and carried out these violent attacks sought to take advantage of already-strained social cohesion and unprecedented levels of antisemitism by targeting the Jewish community for their own personal benefit,” Ossip said. “This is reprehensible and had a chilling effect on the Jewish community.”
Alex Ryvchin, the co-chair of the Executive Council of Australian Jewry, said it was “difficult to comprehend and understand”.
Asked if this week’s news meant Jewish Australians were safer than had been previously thought, Ryvchin told ABC radio: “I don’t feel we can definitively draw that conclusion. Ultimately, the things that we’ve seen took place. They weren’t hoaxes.
“This is part of something transpiring in broader society. The fact that a criminal network with no apparent ideological links to antisemitism thought fit to latch on to what’s happening shows how deep-seated the problem already was.”
Sarah Schwartz, from the Jewish Council of Australia, said the latest revelations “should prompt reflection from every politician, journalist and community leader who has sought to manipulate and weaponise fears within the Jewish community”.
“The attempt to link these events to the support of Palestinians – whether at protests, universities, conferences or writers festivals – has been irresponsible and dangerous.
“It is now clear that individuals are seeking to exploit the Jewish community and the broader public’s concern about antisemitism. Disinformation and irresponsible reporting is providing a permissive environment for these malicious acts. We restate our calls for politicians to act responsibly and stop using the Jewish community as political footballs to push divisive agendas.”
Hudson on Monday said of the alleged antisemitic attacks in Sydney’s eastern suburbs over the past few months – “that was a very small group and potentially one individual behind all of those matters. I think the community should take some comfort in [that]”.
But he stressed there had been an increase in genuine antisemitic attacks since the Israel-Gaza war started and that was an “ongoing concern to police”.
Barrett said on Monday the plot meant there was also “unwarranted suspicion directed at other communities and that is also reprehensible”.
