Raids On the morning of 18 September 2014, police in Australia carried out the biggest counter-terrorism operation in the nation's history, with over 800 heavily armed officers targeting households in the cities of Sydney and Brisbane.
[7] Prime Minister Tony Abbott stated that a senior Australian member of ISIL, Mohammad Ali Baryalei, had called for "demonstration killings" including a public beheading.
[9] He was held in Australia's maximum security prison, Goulburn Correctional Centre in the High Risk Management Unit, the first person on remand ever sent there,[10] and there are Federal Court "control orders" that prohibit certain people from communicating with him.
[15] The cancellation of passports of those wanting to fight overseas for extremists causes as well as resentment towards Australia's role in the recent wars in Afghanistan and Iraq have been raised as possible motivations behind the alleged terrorist planning.
[6] After the raids, Imraan Husain, an Imam from the Gold Coast, warned that sending troops to the Middle East could marginalise local Muslim youth, especially those who follow jihadists on social media.