MELBOURNE, June 19 (Xinhua) -- People deemed terror risks in Australia's Victoria state could be subject to strict curfews and GPS tracking, it was announced on Monday.
Daniel Andrews, Premier of Victoria, announced on Monday that an independent expert panel has been established to advise on how the state's anti-terrorism laws could be strengthened.
The panel, chaired by former Victoria Police Commissioner Ken Lay, was established after terrorist Yacqub Khayre killed one man and took a woman hostage in the southeast Melbourne suburb of Brighton in June.
Andrews said that the panel had been told that nothing was off-limits in the fight against terrorism, including a curfew and GPS tracking of suspects.
"I'm sure that there will be some people who will be perhaps offended by this, there'll be some people for whom this will not be very popular," Andrews told reporters.
"(But) if curbing the rights of a small number of people is what's required to keep the Victorian community safe, then I won't hesitate to do it."
The Victorian justice system has drawn criticism in June due to the decision by the parole board to let Khayre out of prison, where he was serving time for violent offences, in December 2016.
The parole board defended its decision, saying it believed that since the Australian Security Intelligence Organization (ASIO) was not investigating Khayre, he was not a terror threat.
Andrews said that there was a gap in the system whereby suspects who were not deemed an "imminent threat" were not being properly monitored.
"We have a post-detention framework that the states are delivering on behalf of the Commonwealth, that relates to those who have been convicted of a terrorist offence," he said.
"At the other end of the spectrum, we have current powers to detain or to monitor people who present a risk, who have not yet committed a criminal offence, but the threat needs to be imminent.
"Not everyone who poses a risk is necessary posing an imminent risk."
