Anthony Albanese says he was told “very early on” that investigators believed the Dural caravan plot was a “hoax” as both major parties point the finger over whether their decisions to quickly label the saga terrorism was appropriate.
The Australian federal police revealed on Monday the caravan incident was allegedly concocted by criminals who wanted to cause fear for personal gain – not inflict a “mass casualty event” in Sydney.
The AFP deputy commissioner Krissy Barrett said investigators “almost immediately” had considered the caravan to be “a fabricated terrorism plot – essentially a criminal con job”.
The opposition leader, Peter Dutton, would not say whether his conversations with Asio boss, Mike Burgess, on 18 February revealed the hoax theory.
But he called on Albanese to publicly declare when he was informed by police it was their leading theory.
“If the prime minister had knowledge that this was a hoax, why didn’t he tell the Jewish community to try and assuage some of their fears that they rightly had?” he said.
On Wednesday afternoon, Albanese indicated he had known “very early on” of the ties to organised crime, without specifying a date. The prime minister said he did not share suspicions the plot was a hoax because “police have to be allowed to do their job”.
“The police have to be allowed to undertake their investigations and to do so in a way that does not alert the perpetrators of this activity to be conscious that they were onto them,” he told ABC radio.
In an earlier press conference, Albanese criticised the opposition for pressing him for further details on the investigation.
“What I chose to do, in spite of some of the media commentary, and in spite of the criticism of the opposition, was to act in our interest,” he said.
“[To] back security agencies, back the Australian federal police and allow them to do their job and that is what responsible leadership looks like – not the commentary that we saw from members of the Coalition.”
Albanese insisted while the incident was eventually revealed as a hoax, the fear felt by the community, particularly those in the Jewish community, was “very real”.
In budget estimates on Wednesday, the NSW deputy police commissioner, David Hudson, said state police ruled out the prospect the caravan plot was a terrorist threat on 21 February.
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Hudson said he briefed the NSW police minister, Yasmin Catley last Friday, once he felt “confident that it was more the hoax [theory]”.
Earlier on Wednesday, the shadow home affairs minister, James Paterson, defended his and the opposition’s decision to describe the incident as a potential mass-casualty terrorism event weeks after it became public.
“Political leaders represent the people that they are elected to represent, and we are expected to reflect how they feel based on the best information we had at the time,” he told ABC radio.
“And we did that. And I do not regret one word that I said at that time.”
Members of the opposition, including Paterson, the MP for Berowra, Julian Leeser, and Western Australia senator Michaelia Cash, attended an AFP briefing about the incident on 30 January.
An adviser within Dutton’s office also attended the online briefing, though this is disputed by government sources.
Paterson said at no stage did the AFP say the incident was a hoax.
“They said that all lines of inquiry were open, that they were taking it very seriously, and that the counter-terrorism squad was investigating,” he said.
The home affairs minister, Tony Burke, accused Dutton of “deliberately” keeping himself in the dark on key details about the “fake terrorism plot” for his political advantage – a claim Dutton has denied.
Shortly after the 30 January briefing, Dutton said the incident could have been the “most catastrophic terrorist attack in our country’s history”. He has also called for an inquiry into the incident response to ascertain who in the federal government knew what, and when.
Both Albanese and the NSW premier, Chris Minns, labelled the incident a terrorist event.
At an initial police press conference on 29 January, Minns said this was the “discovery of a potential mass casualty event”.
“There’s only one way of calling it out, and that is terrorism. That’s what we’re very worried about. This would strike terror into the community, particularly the Jewish community, and it must be met with the full resources of the government,” he said.
Minns said it “would have been negligent not to take this incredibly seriously” on Tuesday when asked whether his initial response was overblown.
Guardian Australia has asked the attorney general’s office whether alternative theories were briefed at the 30 January meeting.
