There are 38 people in the Macarthur region who are on a terror watch list.
The man who revealed this, the former federal member for Macarthur, Russell Matheson, says he believes there will be a “major terror event somewhere in Australia at sometime’’.
Mr Matheson, who served on law enforcement committees during his six years as a federal MP, said people like Pauline Hanson were right about border control and terrorism.
“We’ve really got to take control of our borders and immigration systems,’’ he told an Ingleburn chamber of commerce dinner this week.
“We’ve got to be very careful and watch who comes to Australia.
“While on the law enforcement committees in Canberra, one of my concerns was terrorism and we’d be talking to the Australian Crime Commission as part of that.
“You would be surprised how many people are on the watch list for terrorism in the Macarthur region,’’ Mr Matheson said.
After hesitating for a second or two, he added:
“There’s 38 people on the terror watch list from this, the Macarthur region.’’
Mr Matheson was the guest speaker at the chamber meeting and was introduced by the Labor mayor of Campbelltown, Cr George Brticevic.
Another Labor man, Macquarie Fields MP Anoulack Chanthivong, thanked Mr Matheson for his services to the region.
Mr Matheson’s message to young people in the region was that there’s opportunities for those who believe in themselves.
From humble beginnings he ended up being mayor of Campbelltown five times, before joining the Liberal Party and going to Canberra between 2010 and 2016.
He lost his seat to Labor’s Dr Mike Freelander at the July 2 election.
He said he found politics to be a lot of smoke and mirrors.
[social_quote duplicate=”no” align=”default”]“I don’t like career politicians, I’m sorry, it’s all about self interest to them, how to get to the top,’’ Mr Matheson told the chamber.[/social_quote]
“You really can’t trust anyone in politics, not even those in your own camp.’’
Mr Matheson, who also worked 25 years in the NSW police force, has just turned 58 and a new career beckons as a member of boards and tribunals.
That’s quite frightening. If they are on the terror list Lock these people up, no chance or 2nd chance, get them out of our community
I’m so glad I live in Australia where people get the right to the assumption of innocence before they are arbitrarily imprisoned. Fascists lock people up because they want to. We live in a country where the rule of law applies.
Sebastiaan de Jonge but it’s ok for these terrorists to bomb or attack innocent people. Not as far as I’m concerned