What we learned; Wednesday 29 January
As our live news coverage draws to a close, here’s what’s been keeping us busy today:
A caravan loaded with explosives and a list of Jewish community targets is the subject of a massive police investigation after its discovery in Dural, New South Wales.
Australian soldier Oscar Jenkins is “alive and in custody”, weeks after he was reported to have been killed after being captured fighting in Ukraine.
The treasurer hailed “remarkable progress” on inflation – while his counterpart in opposition declared the figures to be “stubbornly above target”.
Elizabeth Struhs’ sister said she was “relieved” outside court after her family members were convicted over Elizabeth’s death.
- And the Bureau of Meteorology has forecast widespread heatwaves across the nation this weekend.
Thank you for joining us. See you bright and early tomorrow.
Updated
Here’s what we know so far about the caravan of explosives found in Dural:
Police say a caravan was parked in a hazardous position on a Dural road from 7 December to the 19 January.
Police say they were contacted on 19 January after an amount of explosives and some indication that those explosives might be used in “some form of antisemitic attack” were discovered in the caravan.
Police say a list of location targets used by the Jewish community was found in the caravan. The Jewish community has been made aware of those.
Chris Minns says a “massive” response has been mobilised to investigate the incident, comprising the New South Wales police, the Australian federal police, the Australian Security Intelligence Organisation and the New South Wales Crime Commission.
100 counter-terrorism officers are involved, as well as scores of officers from operations Pearl and Shelter.
Police say the van is believed to have contained enough explosives to create a 40-metre blast zone. The explosive is power gel, possibly from a mining site.
Police say arrests have been made “on the periphery” of the incident.
Police say the matter is not yet being treated as a terrorist incident.
The incident may affect Australia’s terrorism threat level. Up until now, “there’s been no significant threat of harm to an individual, but this has changed”, says the head of the investigation, deputy police commissioner, David Hudson.
There is no ongoing threat to the community in relation to the caravan, police say.
Members of the public are encouraged “to be vigilant in relation to what they see and what they hear in relation to antisemitism,” says Hudson.
“This is the discovery of a potential mass casualty event,” the premier says. “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.”
Minns adds that “it’s with great regret that I can’t make that guarantee” that there will not be an escalation of violence and attacks on the Jewish community. “There’s bad actors in our community, badly motivated, bad ideologies, bad morals, bad ethics, bad people.”
Updated
