‘Shocking failure’: Tony Abbott slams Anthony Albanese over Sydney terror plot

Former Prime Minister Tony Abbott has slammed Anthony Albanese over a “shocking failure of leadership” after the Prime Minister was kept in the dark over an alleged anti-Semitic terror plot in Sydney.

It reportedly took nine days for Mr Albanese to be informed about the discovery of a caravan filled with powerful explosives and the addresses of Jewish sites, which authorities said could have led to a “potential mass casualty event” in northwestern Sydney.

NSW Police were alerted to the chilling find by a local Dural resident on January 19. The state’s Premier Chris Minns was briefed on the matter on January 20, before the Australian Federal Police joined the investigation the following day.

Blasting the delay in communication, Mr Abbot told The Daily Telegraph: “It’s hard to credit that NSW police would uncover enough explosives to kill hundreds of people in a caravan belonging to anti-Semitic activists with indications that it was intended to kill Jews and that no one would bother to tell the PM.”

“Either the authorities aren’t taking public safety seriously or they know the PM doesn’t take it sufficiently seriously so decided that he should be left out of the loop,” he continued.

“Either way it’s a shocking failure of leadership extending right to the top.”

Tony Abbott has called out the “shocking failure of leadership”. Picture: NewsWire / Martin Ollman

The Prime Minister was reportedly not informed about the discovery until after it was reported by The Daily Telegraph on Wednesday.

The Attorney-General and national security committee were also all “out of the loop”.

The week before on January 21, Mr Albanese and Mr Minns attended a joint press conference and a national cabinet meeting over a Maroubra child care firebombed with graffiti in a suspected anti-Semitic attack.

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