The men, two brothers aged 30 and 26, and another 21-year-old man, were inspired by the Islamic State (IS) terror group. They are Australian nationals of Turkish background and all had their passports cancelled earlier this year. According to the police, they were seeking to acquire a semi-automatic gun to carry out an attack.
The suspects had been using encrypted messaging apps to communicate, which an Australian government minister said was further evidence of the need to amend the law. Since the nation’s terror threat level was raised to “probable” in 2014, police have charged 90 people in counter-terrorism investigations.
