Australian PM Tony Abbott Announces Response to Sydney Cafe Siege

Australian Prime Minister Tony Abbott announced a series of tough measures to tackle domestic terrorism following the deadly siege at the Lindt Cafe in Sydney in December. Abbott repeated his plans for new laws allowing Australian authorities to retain internet data and additional resources for the security services ahead of the release of a national security statement and the Commonwealth and State Governments review of the cafe siege.

“We are a free and fair nation. But that doesn’t mean we should let bad people play us for mugs, and all too often they have: Well, that’s going to stop,” said Abbott. “The rise of the Islamist death cult in the Middle East has seen the emergence of new threats where any extremist can grab a knife, a flag, a camera phone and a victim and carry out a terror attack.”

“I give you this assurance: As a country, we won’t let evil people exploit our freedom,” said Abbott. Credit: YouTube/Tony Abbott