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IS will ‘export terror’ to Aus

Justice Minister Michael Keenan said Australia would take a tough stance against the spread of the “cancer” of Islamic State (IS).

Mr Keenan addressed the media on Monday afternoon after meeting with the Joint Counter Terrorism Team (JCTT) at the Australian Federal Police (AFP) headquarters, in the wake of the Paris attacks.

The meeting was to asses the way Australia responded to terror attacks.

He said there would be no change to Australia’s terror alert level, which is currently set to high, echoing earlier indications from Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull.

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Mr Keenan reassured the public that there was “an enormous amount of expertise” within the JCTT which was working hard to keep Australians safe.

“Australians are protected by the best police services and intelligence communities in the world,” Mr Keenan said.

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Parliament House displays the colours of the French flag.

“People in Australia should not be fearful and they should feel confident in our intelligence authorities.”

Mr Keenan said the the fundamentals in Australia had not changed in response to events overseas, despite the Paris attacks.

“There will be lessons to be learnt, but the situation is fundamentally different in Australia,” Mr Keenan said.

“Since we raised the terror alert level to high there has been three terror attacks in Australia.

“Our authorities have worked very diligently to stop another six attacks.

“We never seek to restrict information unless there’s a legitimate security reason for doing so.”

Earlier on Monday, Mr Keenan spoke to the Nine Network.

“We’re not going to be intimidated out of the way Australian society operates,” he told Channel 9 on Monday morning, following six separate terror attacks in Paris on Friday night.

“IS is a cancer, and while they exist, they’re going to export terror into Australia.”

Mr Turnbull is currently in Turkey for the G20 Summit, but remained in the “closest contact” with Australian security forces and was receiving regular updates from ASIO.

So far, 132 people were reported dead in the attacks in France, while a further 350 were injured.

reporting by Emma Manser and Kaitlin Thals

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