Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull has raised "grave questions" about why Yacqub Khayre, the gunman responsible for Monday night's deadly siege in Melbourne, was on parole despite a known record of violence and extremism.
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How was he on parole asks PM
With revelations the alleged Brighton terror attacker had a long, violent criminal history, Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull says violent criminals being paroled is an issue.
Mr Turnbull said he had raised the issue with Victorian Premier Daniel Andrews and flagged it would be a "high priority" at a COAG meeting of federal and state leaders scheduled for this Friday.
"How was this man on parole? He had a long record of violence. A very long record of violence. He had been charged with a terrorist offence some years ago and had been acquitted. He was known to have connections, at least in the past, with violent extremism," Mr Turnbull said on Tuesday morning.
"This issue of parole has to be addressed. There have been too many cases of people on parole committing violent offences of this kind."
Victoria's Opposition Leader Matthew Guy said the public also wanted to know why the suspect was on parole.
"Why [was] this man on parole? Why [was] this man still on our streets?" Mr Guy said.
"If this man had been convicted for violent home invasions why was he still on the streets? If the man was not an Australian citizen why was he not deported?"
![Police respond to the hostage crisis in Brighton on Monday night.](http://web.archive.org./web/20170607214236im_/https://www.fairfaxstatic.com.au/content/dam/images/g/w/l/0/n/5/image.related.articleLeadwide.620x349.gwl4eg.png/1496734897334.jpg)
Mr Turnbull also said the government was "absolutely" concerned about copycat attacks, warning all global terror incidents created that risk.
Two people, including Khayre, died in the siege at serviced apartments in the Melbourne suburb of Brighton. An employee of the apartment block was murdered and three police officers were injured. Police believe Khayre hired a sex worker to be a hostage as part of a plan to lure and ambush anti-terror units.
![Coroners remove a body from the Brighton apartment block.](http://web.archive.org./web/20170607214236im_/https://www.fairfaxstatic.com.au/content/dam/images/g/w/l/4/b/1/image.related.articleLeadwide.620x349.gwl4eg.png/1496725916077.jpg)
Victorian authorities, working with the Australian Federal Police counter-terrorism strike force, have not found any evidence the siege was co-ordinated by a terror group or part of a broader plot.
Islamic State have claimed responsibility for the attack but police were dismissive of the group's statement, with Victoria Police commissioner Graham Ashton saying: "They always tend to jump up and claim responsibility every time something happens".
As the incident unfolded on Monday night, the Seven Network's Melbourne newsroom took a call from a woman who said she was being held hostage. A man then came on the line and said: "This is for IS, this is for al-Qaeda".
Khayre was considered by police to be a "peripheral player" in a long-running terror investigation and was out on parole on unrelated violent offences.
He has previously been associated with Somali terror group al-Shabaab and was charged and acquitted in 2010 over plans to carry out a suicide attack on Sydney's Holsworthy army barracks.
It is understood Khayre cut off his parole GPS security ankle bracelet on Monday to avoid having his movements monitored.
Mr Turnbull also pointed to concerns about Lindt siege gunman Man Haron Monis, who was out on bail when he carried out the December 2014 attack in Sydney.
In an earlier press conference, Mr Andrews said Victoria had the toughest parole conditions of any Australian jurisdiction and noted Khayre had apparently complied with all conditions, including a curfew, appointments and drug tests.
"We'll look at that very closely, of course, and if there are any changes in any element of this act, which we're considering as an act of terror, then we stand ready to make them," he said.
- with John Silvester, Richard Willingham
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