By CAM LUCADOU-WELLS
AN ASIO team leader has denied police were not shown “significant” intelligence before a fatal meeting between two counter-terrorism cops and Endeavour Hills teen Numan Haider.
An officer, who gave evidence under her Australian Security and Intelligence Organisation pseudonym of Natalie Mayfair, told a coronial inquiry on 27 April that the material such as Haider’s Facebook profile photo of him in camouflage clothing, a balaclava and holding a Shahada flag, did not significantly alter Asio’s risk assessment.
On a TV link, which could not be seen by the court’s public gallery, she told Coroner John Olle at the County Court that she had assessed it was too unsafe to send Asio officers to meet Haider because he had apparently procured a knife.
Asio instead met with state and federal police to discuss Haider where it was agreed that Joint Counter Terrorism Team police would contact Haider.
Days later on 23 September 2014, Haider stabbed two JCTT police officers and was fatally shot when he stabbed them during a meeting at Endeavour Hills police station.
At a 19 September briefing, Asio produced a briefing note to the JCTT, including intelligence that Haider had a knife and had shown interest in obtaining a balaclava, a taser, a big knife and a small knife that could be easily hidden.
Other intelligence provided to police included Haider being told that his passport was cancelled by authorities on 16 September, Ms Mayfield said.
Within hours of that news, Haider apparently carried out internet searches for Holsworthy Army Base, home-made gun silencers, firecrackers wrapped with metal sheet, Tony Abbott’s next visit to Victoria and AFL football.
At least four police officers at the Asio briefing have since testified to coroner Iain West that they weren’t shown Haider’s most recent Facebook posts.
The material included Haider’s Facebook profile photo and posts calling police “dogs” who had “declared war” on Islam, as well as derogatory sexual suggestions to federal police and Asio.
Ms Mayfield said she passed around at least one copy of the Facebook material at the briefing.
The pages were handed back up to her by the end of the meeting, she told the Coroner.
Ms Mayfield stated she would not have considered including the Facebook material in the briefing note, which was emailed to the JCTT that day.
Among her reasons was that Haider’s Facebook ID was included in the briefing note and nearly all the posts were publicly accessible.
No one at the meeting “appeared to attach great significance” to the posts, Ms Carrington said. The posts didn’t “significantly alter” Asio’s assessment of Haider’s risk.
“It had been my experience that offensive and derogatory comments about Asio, the AFP and state police, similar to those made by Numan, were quite common amongst individuals of interest to Asio,” she said in her tendered statement.
Officer A – who was one of the two police stabbed by Haider four days after the meeting – told the hearing in March that he had been unaware of the “absolutely relevant” Facebook material.
“I was operating under the proviso that Asio would provide real-time intelligence,” Officer A had told the Coroner.
“I think it unlikely we’d meet him in those circumstances had … full intelligence been revealed.”
Under questioning on this, Ms Mayfair said: “People can make comments like that in hindsight.
“In terms of what he needed to know, I can’t comment on police procedure in that regard.”
A former intelligence officer, who gave evidence under her Asio name of Julie Carrington, told the inquiry on 27 April that she was sure the Facebook material had been raised.
She recalled an “awkward feeling” during the briefing about some of the derogatory posts.
